Court Rebukes Ramdev Again: This Time For “Sharbat Jihad” Remark

Yoga guru Ramdev has run into fresh trouble with the courts. The Delhi High Court has observed that the Patanjali Ayurved founder's 'sherbet jihad' remark on popular squash drink Rooh Afza was "indefensible" and shook the "conscience" of the court. "It shocks the conscience of the court. This is indefensible," Justice Amit Bansal said while hearing a suit by Rooh Afza manufacturer Hamdard.

After the court’s ire, Ramdev agreed to take down videos and social media posts featuring comments about the popular drink Rooh Afza. Ramdev's lawyer told the court that the videos in question, which featured controversial terms such as 'sharbat jihad' would be taken down immediately.

The court took serious note of Ramdev's remarks. “I couldn’t believe my ears and eyes when I saw the video,” the judge observed. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Hamdard, argued that the issue went beyond disparagement and was “akin to hate speech,” aimed at creating communal discord. “It must be removed!” he asserted.

Around an hour after the Delhi High Court's observation, Baba Ramdev's lawyer told the court that the Patanjali group would be taking down all the videos in question.

Noting the assurance, the High Court instructed, “At the outset, counsel appearing on behalf of the defendant on instructions submits that all impugned ads in print or video will be taken down or suitably altered. Let an affidavit be placed on record stating he shall not issue any such statements or advertisements or social media posts similar to this in future.”

As counsels debated what should be included in the affidavit, the bench intervened: “File an affidavit which covers this, we will see. We don’t want such cases coming.” The court ordered that the affidavit be filed within five days and listed the matter for the next hearing on May 1.

Ramdev Baba's comments in question were made earlier this month when he launched Patanjali's rose sharbat. During the launch, Baba Ramdev said, "There's a company that gives you sharbat, but the money it earns is used to construct madrasas and mosques." While he did not name Hamdard or Rooh Afza, his comments were widely understood to have been directed at the popular drink.

He also compared other sharbat brands to “toilet cleaners,” saying, “Protect your family and innocent children from the poison of toilet cleaners being sold as soft drinks and sharbat Jihad. Choose only Patanjali sharbat and juices,” the brand declared on social media.

This isn’t the first time Baba Ramdev and Patanjali have come into controversy. Over the past two years, Patanjali and its founders have faced several legal challenges due to their advertisements. The matter escalated nationally after the Indian Medical Association (IMA) filed a plea against Patanjali Ayurved, leading the Supreme Court to impose a temporary ban on its ads and issue contempt notices over misleading claims.

In January, a Kerala court issued bailable warrants against Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna after they failed to appear in a case concerning misleading ads by Divya Pharmacy. A similar case was also registered in Kozhikode.