‘No more communal slurs’: Delhi HC asks Baba Ramdev to file affidavit

The Delhi High Court on Friday asked Patanjali founder Baba Ramdev to file an affidavit promising no more communal slurs in light of the “Sharbat Jihad” comment he made in an ad back in April. The Bar and Bench publication reported that Ramdev has been directed not to make any statements, social media posts or disparaging videos and ads with communal slurs against competitors in the Hamdard National Foundation India v. Patanjali Foods Limited & Anr case.

The report said that Justice Amit Bansal emphasised the directive issued on April 22, based on a plea filed by Hamdard Foundation, which owns Rooh Afza—a rival to Patanjali’s Gulab Sharbat. The plaintiff alleged that Ramdev used incendiary terms to target its product.

Ramdev’s counsel Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayar complied to the same by producing affidavits which he stated will be filed in court.

The controversy erupted after Ramdev, in a promotional video for Patanjali's herbal beverages, claimed that a company selling sharbat, widely interpreted to be Hamdard, is using its profits to fund the construction of mosques and madrasas. The video, posted on Facebook by ‘Patanjali Products’, went further by urging people to avoid “toilet cleaners sold in the name of soft drinks” and accused rival products of engaging in a so-called “Sharbat Jihad.”

“If you drink this, then gurukuls and vishwavidyalayas will be built,” Ramdev said while promoting Patanjali’s sharbat, a statement that has since drawn severe backlash and legal scrutiny.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Hamdard, argued that the video goes beyond product disparagement and amounts to communal hate speech. “This is a shocking case of communal divide. It is hate speech under the guise of marketing,” he said during the hearing on April 22.

Justice Bansal, presiding over the matter, observed, “It shocks the conscience of the court. This is indefensible,” stressing that such remarks are capable of disrupting communal harmony and public order.

Appearing on behalf of Patanjali and Ramdev, Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayar assured the court that the objectionable videos would be taken down and emphasised that there was no intention to target any religion. “I have advised. We are pulling down the videos,” Nayar submitted.