HC notice to Ramdev on Yog Sandesh article

The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday issued notices to Baba Ramdev and the author of an article in Yog Sandesh,which had derogatory references to Maurya kings and Buddhist monks,asking them to explain the reason behind publishing such content. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice F I Rebello and Justice Vikramnath issued notices to Ramdev,his deputy Acharya Balkrishna,editor of the magazine Jaishankar Prasad Mishra and author Radhey Shyam and sought a reply within three weeks. Before issuing notices,the court asked the lawyers of the respondents whether they had any evidence about what they had to say. The lawyers then sought time to explain the circumstances and the basis on which the article was written in the May issue of Patanjali Yogpeeth’s monthly magazine. The petition was filed by members of the Maurya,Kushwaha and Buddhist communities,who were hurt by references such as “cowards” and “selfish” used in the article for descendants of Emperor Ashok and Buddhist monks. They want the objectionable contents to be removed from the article.