"We Will Rip You Apart": After Social Media Backlash, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah Faces Criticism From Former Judges

After strong backlash on social media over the past few days against the words spoken by Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah while hearing the case filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) against Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved for alleged misleading advertisements, former Judges and Chief Justices have criticised Justice Amanullah's choice of words.

On Wednesday, Justice Amanullah while sharing the bench with Justice Hima Kohli told the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority in open court, "We will rip you apart," when its lawyer submitted that it acted under a bonafide impression about the law concerned, in the case against Patanjali Ayurved. 

Former Judges want Justice Amanullah to "acquaint himself with desired judicial demeanour" by going through two Judgments of the Apex Court in the matters of Krishna Swamy vs Union of India (1992) and C Ravichandran Iyer vs Justice A M Bhattacherjee (1995) as per a Times of India report.

Retired Judges have also said that Court proceedings should "set standards of sobriety and restraint and have served as a platform for dispassionate debate revolving around legality, constitutionality and rule of law".

"'We will rip you apart' verged on a street brawl threat and could never be part of the obiter dicta lexicon of a constitutional court judge", former Judges said as per the ToI report.

The Supreme Court's unusual fiery approach against Baba Ramdev and Patanjali Ayurved did not go down well with the majority on social media. Most questioned the inaction against misleading advertisements by foreign FMCGs, while some compared the Supreme Court's present stand with its soft stand in some contempt cases earlier. Many people highlighted the flourishing practice of "faith healing" prayer meetings by Christian preachers who claim to cure incurable ailments in public prayer meetings.    

Former Central RTI Commissioner Uday Mahurkar said on X,  "The combined call of conscience of a nation is bigger than any Institution. The rejection of unconditional apology of @yogrishiramdev & @Ach_Balkrishna, by SC is not in the right spirit. Their propagation of yoga-pranayam-Ayurved principles have helped crores of Indians & cured many of them of their ailments. The Apex Court’s judicial actions should reiterate a common man’s faith in judiciary, not shake it".

“We will rip you apart”!! Sounds like a filmy Gabbar Singh dialogue! What desperation made MiLords say it?", asked author Randeep Sisodia on X. 

"Ah, the endless parade of misleading ads, featuring everything from Horlicks to Rasna to Dove. But oh, the milords have a singular craving to "rip apart" one Bharatiya Brand. Colonialism: institutionalized, entrenched, and thriving", author Rashmi Samant wrote on X.

Satire news portal "The Fauxy" published an article titled, "Patanjali Launches Ayurvedics Masks, Baba Ramdev wear Prashant Bhushan’s to settle the case for ₹1 with the Supreme Court".

The stand of the Supreme Court also found supporters on social media. Hepatologist Dr. Cyriac Abby Philips said in response to a comment on the Supreme Court's stand, "Ayurveda is a pseudoscience and ayurvedic treatments are quackery".

During the same hearing, the Bench had imposed Rs.10,000 cost on an intervention applicant who sought permission to be impleaded as a co-petitioner with the Indian Medical Association in its Writ Petition citing illegal advertisement by a person claiming to be an Allopathy Doctor.

During an earlier hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Union of India told the Supreme Court that Allopathy is not beyond criticism and that a person cannot be stopped from saying that Ayurveda is more efficient.

Prior to that, a heated exchange of words took place during the hearing between Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi after Rohatgi asked the Court to put on record what it had commented about during the hearing.