Book on Ramdev: Yoga guru records statement before Delhi court

Yoga guru Ramdev today recorded his statement before a Delhi court in a case filed by him seeking restriction on the publication and sale of a book purportedly on his life, alleging that its contents were defamatory.
Ramdev, who reached the court amid heavy security, recorded the statement before Additional Civil Judge Nipun Awasthi in an in-chamber proceeding.
He confirmed before the court that he was the complainant in the suit and the contents of the book titled 'Godman To Tycoon', allegedly based on his life, were defamatory, the court sources said. The book is authored by journalist Priyanka Pathak Narain.

The court also continued the restrain the publisher and two e-commerce firms from publishing and selling the book till further orders, advocate Satyajit Sarna, who appeared for the publisher Juggernaut Books, said.
The case will now be heard on December 12.
The court had in August restrained the publisher and two e-commerce firms from publishing and selling the book till further orders.

It had passed the order without giving notice to the publisher, saying that any delay in granting the interim order would defeat the purpose for which the lawsuit has been filed.
Sarna said the August order has been challenged by the publisher before a senior civil judge.

In the order, the judge had said that after going through parts of the book, it was found to be based on "rumours as heard and hearsay testimonials" and "permission to publish such a book has manifestly not been sought from him (Ramdev), nor answers to the so-called mysteries referred to in the book have been sought from him".
The court had also restrained Amazon India and Flipkart Internet Pvt Ltd from selling the book online till further orders and said any pending delivery of the book to buyers should be stopped immediately.
The suit by Ramdev has alleged that the information in the book is false, tends to injure his reputation and leads to an inference that he had been involved in mischievous and criminal activities to achieve fame and success.