The Delhi High Court on Thursday strongly criticized Yoga guru Ramdev after learning that he had released a new video allegedly repeating defamatory comments about the herbal drink Rooh Afza—despite previous court directions barring such statements.
Justice Amit Bansal, who is hearing the case, remarked that Ramdev appeared to be acting without accountability. “He is not in control of anyone. He lives in his own world,” the judge observed, noting the video seemed to be in “prima facie contempt” of the court’s prior orders. “In view of the last order, his affidavit as well as this video are prima facie in contempt. I will issue a contempt notice now. We are just calling him here,” the court stated.
The issue stems from earlier comments made by Ramdev while promoting Patanjali’s “Gulab Sharbat”, in which he claimed that Rooh Afza’s earnings were used to fund madrasas and mosques—a statement that triggered significant backlash. He had described the situation as “sharbat jihad,” prompting the Hamdard National Foundation to move the court for relief.
In a hearing on April 22, the court had deemed Ramdev’s remarks “shocking to the conscience” and “indefensible.” At that time, his legal team had assured the court that all objectionable material would be taken down. However, Hamdard’s lawyers presented fresh evidence on Thursday, alleging that Ramdev had once again defied the court’s directive by releasing another video with similar inflammatory content.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Hamdard, argued that the new video was not just a violation but an instance of hate speech. “This amounts to hate speech. He says it is a sharbat jihad. He should carry on his business. Why is he troubling us?” he questioned.
Echoing these concerns, senior advocate Sandeep Sethi said that the remarks were rooted in religious bias. “This targets the religious identity of Hamdard’s founders and cannot be protected under freedom of expression,” he stated.
