Venting their anger on Tuesday, the High Court of Delhi issued strong remarks against yoga guru and Patanjali founder Ramdev for his ‘Sharbat Jihad’ comment directed towards the iconic Rooh Afza of Hamdard Laboratories. Ramdev’s comments, termed ‘indefensible’, ‘shock the conscience of the court’ by the court, which was hearing a defamation suit filed by Hamdard.
Justice Amit Bansal, presiding over the hearing, expressed his concern over the communal-type remarks and asked why such statements were needed in this already sensitive and divided social atmosphere. An argument over whether the Hamdard was using profits from its product Rooh Afza to fund the construction of mosques and madrasas began on April 3 when Ramdev claimed the industry is corrupt and that Hamdard was at its core. Soon, the comments were taken to task for being defamatory and communal in nature.
In turn, the Delhi High Court asked Ramdev to withdraw baseless and inflammatory allegations before Hamdard Laboratories approached the Delhi High Court against him. Mukul Rohatgi, Senior advocate, appearing for Hamdard, told the court that this was not just an instance of disparagement of a product, but a kind of speech designed to create a rift in the community. Rohatgi argued that this is not protected under the law of defamation; it is hate speech.
“Even for a moment, this kind of comment cannot be tolerated,” he added. “The country already has enough to deal with. It is not acceptable to contribute to furthering communal divisions through the statements.”
Sharp observations of the court hint at what is a serious attitude to dealing with communal and defamatory speech, especially when uttered by big, public figures. The case continues to make headlines because this case goes beyond freedom of speech, appropriate communication and the line that leads around criticising and encouraging.
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