In a breather to yoga guru Ramdev, the Supreme Court Friday stayed all the proceedings arising from the spate of complaints filed against him following his "honeymoon" remarks against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's visits to the homes of Dalits.
A bench of Chief Justice RM Lodha, Justice A. K. Patnaik, Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice S.S. Nijjar also issued notice to the states where aggrieved people have filed complaints or registered FIRs.
Besides staying all the proceedings on the complaints and FIRs, the court issued notices to all the complainants seeking response on Ramdev's plea for clubbing of all the cases and transferring then before a court in Lucknow or any place that may be decided by the court.
The apex court said that it was not expressing any opinion on the merits of the case.
Along with the clubbing of all the cases, Ramdev has sought order restraining any coercive action against him. Senior counsel Mukul Rohtagi assisted by Keshav Mohan appeared for the yoga guru, who is facing flak after his remarks April 25.
Directing the listing of the matter in July after vacations, the court asked Ramdev to deposit Rs. 10 lakh with its registry that might be used for meeting the travel expenses of the complainants if the cases filed across the country are clubbed and sent to one court.
The court ordered this as some of the complainants told the court that if cases are clubbed and referred to one court, then they would have to bear expenses of travelling and lodging.