Ramdev’s ‘Sharbat Jihad’ Video Only Made Private, Not Removed: Hamdard to Delhi High Court
In the ongoing legal proceedings surrounding Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev’s remarks referring to Hamdard Foundation’s product ‘Rooh Afza’ as part of a so-called “Sharbat Jihad”, the Foundation informed the Delhi High Court that the impugned video had not been deleted but merely made private.
The court was hearing a matter related to Baba Ramdev’s comments, made in a video published on April 3, 2025, wherein he alleged that purchasing ‘Rooh Afza’ indirectly supported the construction of mosques and madrasas.
In contrast, he claimed that consuming Patanjali’s rose sharbat contributed to the establishment of gurukuls, Acharyakulam, Patanjali University, and the Bharatiya Shiksha Board. He went on to draw parallels between what he termed as “love jihad” and “vote jihad”, coining the phrase “sharbat jihad” to warn viewers against the consumption of competing products.
The video, initially shared via the Facebook page ‘Patanjali Products,’ featured captions in Hindi, which, when translated, described ‘Rooh Afza’ and similar drinks as “toilet cleaners” being sold under the guise of “sharbat jihad”. The post called upon the public to shield their families and children from such beverages and instead support Patanjali products.
At the hearing, counsel for Hamdard submitted that the video in question had been made private but was still accessible to subscribers, thereby not fully complying with the court’s direction issued on May 1, 2025, which had ordered its removal.
Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayar, representing Patanjali, informed the court that an undertaking had been submitted in accordance with the previous order. Patanjali’s counsel argued that the company was still within the 24-hour compliance window granted by the earlier order and reserved the right to remove the video within that timeframe.
The bench of Justice Amit Bansal directed that the undertaking be taken on record and listed the matter for further hearing on May 9, 2025.
For Hamdard: Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Sandeep Sethi with Advocates Pravin Anand, Dhruv Anand, Nikhil Rohatgi, Udita Patro, Shivendra Pratap Singh, Dhananjay Khanna, Nimrat Singh, Navdeep Suhag, Mehak Khanna, Ria Kumar, Javed Akhter and Aslam Khan.
For Patanjali: Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayar with Advocates Rahul Sahay, Simaranjeet Singh, Rishabh Pant, Abhijit Pandey, Yajat Gulia and Pratham Arora
Case Title: Hamdard National Foundation India v Patanjali Foods Limited (CS(COMM) 356/2025)