The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to yoga guru Ramdev on a petition filed by a publisher challenging a Delhi High Court order restraining the sale and publication of a book on his life, PTI reported.
Godman to Tycoon: The Untold Story of Baba Ramdev was published by Juggernaut Books on July 29, 2017, but a civil court in Delhi restrained its publication and sale six days later. Another local court lifted the ban in April, but Ramdev then moved the Delhi High Court, which, in an interim order in May, reinstated the ban. The publisher moved the Supreme Court, which asked the High Court to decide on the plea.
On September 29, the High Court restrained the publication and sale of the book, saying some of its portions were defamatory to Ramdev. He had argued that the book harmed his economic interests and reputation.
The publisher challenged this ruling in the top court, which listed the matter for further hearing in the first week of February.
The book, written by Priyanka Pathak-Narain, investigates the past of the yoga guru whose business interests currently include the Patanjali Group and earlier included the Astha TV channel as well. Among other subjects, it follows the deaths and the disappearance of some people closely connected with Ramdev.
In its ruling, the Delhi High Court had also ordered the deletion of references to the disappearance of Swami Shankar Dev and the murder of the Swami Yogananda in the book, stating that there was no evidence these two matters were connected with Ramdev’s.
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