The plea had sought directions to use 'red ant chutney' to improve immunity and in the long run, prevent COVID-19 infection.
Declined to entertain a plea seeking direction for use of 'Red Ant Chutney' to effectively boost the immune system, the Supreme Court on Thursday said that it cannot order the use of traditional medicine or home remedies for the treatment of coronavirus across the country.
The plea had sought directions to use 'red ant chutney' to improve immunity and in the long run, prevent COVID-19 infection.
A bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Hima Kohli said there is a lot of traditional knowledge, but it cannot be used as a cure for Covid-19. "These remedies you can have for your own consumption but we cannot ask for applying this traditional knowledge across the country," said the bench.
Advocate Anirudha Sanganeria, appearing for petitioner Nayadhar Padhial, said that the Orissa High Court dismissed the plea and they moved the top court challenging that order. The top court asked the petitioner, a member of the tribal community of Odisha, to get vaccinated for Covid and to dismiss the plea.
The petitioner, as per the initial high court order, moved the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, which expressed its inability and rejected the claim on the basis of lack of expertise to evaluate the claim. Also, the Ayush Ministry rejected the claim on the basis of it not being covered under its scope. After the rejection of the representation, the petitioner filed another petition before the high court urging to refer the matter to another body of experts, which was rejected.
The apex court noted that the high court should not have directed the Directors General of the Ayush Ministry and the CSIR) to take a decision on the proposal within three months. "We want to put an end to it," the bench said, as it dismissed the plea.
The plea claimed that "Red Ant Chutney", has a medicinal value as it contains formic acid, protein, calcium, Vitamin B12 and zinc and its efficacy needs to be ascertained as a cure of Covid-19. The petitioner claimed this chutney, a mixture of red ants and green chillies, in the tribal belts of the country including Odisha and Chhattisgarh is considered as a cure of flu, cough, common cold, fatigue, breathing problems, and other ailments.
(With IANS inputs)
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