The petitioner belonging to a tribal community known as Bathudi, stated that a paste made along with red ants and green chilli can boost immunity and prevent COVID19.
This plea was earlier dismissed and directions were given to the ICMR( Indian Council for Medical Research) and CSIR ( Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) to take a decision on the matter.
Based on this direction, CSIR and Ministry of Ayush, Government of India took their decision on this matter: CSIR stated that they do not have expertise dealing with entomophagy and cannot pursue this action further. The Ministry of Ayush stated that no reference on this matter could be drawn into Ayurvedic medicine as it is beyond the scope of Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, which is the classic book for Ayurvedic references.
In the present plea, the petitioner prayed before the Court to issue notices to these bodies for setting up an expert panel to look into the present matter. A Bench consisting of Chief Justice S.Muralidhar and Justice B.P Routray of the Orissa High Court dismissed the petition.
The Bench stated that the Court is not inclined to accept the plea as it does not posses expertise in the matter. It was also stated that the Court cannot comment upon the traditional knowledge and practices of communities.
It was further stated that the CSIR and the Ministry of Ayush are the expert bodies dealing with such matters and their decision is accepted by the Court.
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