Dr. J A Jayalal, the president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), filed a petition in the Delhi High Court on Monday, appealing a trial court judgement alleging that he was abusing his position in the organisation to promote Christianity.
A complaint was brought in a Delhi trial court by Rohit Jha, saying that Jayalal is abusing his position and misrepresenting the nation and people to convert Hindus to Christianity under the IMA’s guise.
He requested a court order prohibiting Jayalal from writing, speaking in the media, or publishing any anything that is disparaging to Hindu faith or Ayurveda, citing publications and interviews.
The trial court “made a mistake in directing and passing an adverse declaration that appellant shall not utilise the platform of IMA for the propagation of any religion,” according to the plea, which the appellant “never did.” However, by making such a statement, the court presumptively found the appellant guilty of Christian propagation, which it described as “totally improper and tantamount to final judgement without any trial or final adjudication.”
According to Jayalal’s legal team, he conducted an interview to one Morgan Lee of Christianity Today, which was afterwards published on the publication’s website. There was “nothing mentioned against any faith, against any individual, against the plaintiff, or against Ayurveda,” according to the plea.
“It was an interview given in the personal capacity of the appellant, expressing his personal view,” it said. In the interview, there was nothing said” about converting “medical students, doctors and patients to Christianity,” the plea stated.
According to the plea, some unknown people with a malicious motive manufactured a screenshot of a false news storey published on Haggai International’s website, in which it was claimed that Jayalal sought to utilise his status as a Christian missionary. According to the plea, Jayalal contacted the website, which informed him that such an item did not exist on their site. The matter has been sent to Justice Asha Menon, who will hear it on June 16.
