Court stays non-bailable warrants against Ramdev

ROHTAK: The court of additional district and sessions judge (AD SJ) Narinder Kaurin Rohtak has stayed the proceedings against yogaguru Ramdevin the ‘beheading remark’ case going on in the lower court of additional civil judicial magistrate (ACJM) Harish Goyal.

The court of ACJM had issued non-bailable warrants against Ramdev for August 3 after he failed to comply with the court’s summons under Sections 504 and 506 of Indian Penal Code.

During a hearing on the revision petition filed by Ramdev on Thursday, senior advocate Satya Pal Jain argued that the lower court had hurriedly issued summons and warrants against Ramdev, wrongly perceiving that his statement was particu- larly meant for the Muslim community.

Based on the arguments, the court of ADSJ stayed the proceedings against Ramdev in the lower court and announced September 12 as the next date for hearing.

Ramdev, who has been made the brand ambassador of Haryana by the BJP government, had courted controversy in April 2016, by saying he could “behead lakhs of people refusing to chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai if he were not bound by law.”

He was addressing a ‘Sadbhawna Sammelan’ in Rohtak that was organised to promote peace in Haryana, which had witnessed unprecedented violence during the Jat stir in February 2016.

The yoga guru in his address was allegedly responding to All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaddudin Owaisi’s statement, who had said that he would not chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai even if a knife was put to his throat.

A day after his statement, Congress leader Subhash Batra had lodged a complaint against Ramdev with the police. However, when the police did not act, Batra approached the court to take action against Ramdev

AT A RALLY IN ROHTAK LAST YEAR, YOGA GURU HAD STATED HE COULD ‘BEHEAD LAKHS OF PEOPLE REFUSING TO CHANT BHARAT MATA KI JAI IF HE WERE NOT BOUND BY LAW’