Nainital:
The Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday issued notices to yoga guru Ramdev’s Patanjali, Union and state governments, seeking a reply within a week on the firm’s Coronil drug. Hearing a PIL challenging Ramdev’s claims regarding the medicine, a division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice R C Khulbe issued the notices.
It asked the Union and state governments; Patanjali; the director of the AYUSh department in Uttarakhand; ICMR and Rajasthan’s NIMS University, which is said to have collaborated with the company in manufacturing the medicine, to file their replies within a week. The PIL filed by advocate Mani Kumar has sought a ban on the drug, accusing the yoga guru of misleading people by launching Coronil as a medicine to cure coronavirus.
The drug neither has the certification of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) nor did Patanjali Ayurved has the licence to manufacture it, the PIL has contended. While Patanjali claims that the drug has been tested by NIMS University, the Rajasthan institute denied it, the PIL said. Meanwhile, the Union AYUSH Ministry said Patanjali can sell Coronil but only as an immunity booster, days after yoga guru Ramdev’s company launched it as a medicine for COVID-19 and is now calling it a product to “manage” the disease. Ramdev claimed that the ministry had asked him to use the term “Covid management” in place of “Covid treatment” and he is following the instruction. PTI ALM RDK RDK
