Delhi High Court on Tuesday said Ramdev’s claim of a “sharbat jihad” while appearing to refer to Hamdard’s Rooh Afza had “shocked its conscience” and was “indefensible”, prompting the yoga practitioner to assure it that he would take down related online content.

Justice Amit Bansal made the comments while hearing a suit filed by Hamdard National Foundation India, the manufacturer of Rooh Afza, against Ramdev’s Patanjali Foods Ltd.

“It shocks the conscience of the court. It is indefensible,” the court said, warning of a strong order against Patanjali.

The judge also commented that he was stunned to see the video and directed Ramdev’s lawyer to immediately take it down.

Ramdev’s counsel assured the high court that the company would immediately remove the videos and social media posts relating to the “sharbat jihad” remarks on Hamdard’s Rooh Afza.

In a video posted by Ramdev earlier this month, he promoted Patanjali’s rose sharbat and alleged that a company uses profits earned from sharbat to build mosques and madrasas.

He termed it “sharbat jihad”, likening it to the Right-wing coinage of “love jihad”. He claimed that the profit earned by Patanjali sharbats would be used in building gurukuls and a Patanjali University.

However, he did not name Hamdard in his promotional video. Initially, Ramdev defended his comments by saying he did not name any brand or community. But the counsel for Hamdard apprised the court about the recently posted video.

Appearing for Hamdard, senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Sandeep Sethi argued that the case went beyond disparagement and was a matter of creating “communal divide”.

Rohatgi said the comments could be seen as hate speech. “He should carry on his business. Why is he troubling us?” Rohatgi said.

Defending Ramdev, senior advocate Rajiv Nayar assured the court that the controversial remarks would be immediately removed in all formats and social media posts.

The court asked Ramdev to file an affidavit within five days stating that he would not issue any such statements, advertisements or social media posts on competitors’ products and listed the matter for another hearing on May 1.

A complaint had also been filed by Congress leader Digvijaya Singh in Bhopal earlier this month against Ramdev, accusing him of promoting religious hatred.

On previous occasions, too, Ramdev had faced legal scrutiny for his controversial promotional tactics.

The “sharbat jihad” video that went viral on social media recently was shared by Patanjali Products on Facebook. The video also targeted soft drinks, calling them toilet cleaners.

According to Hamdard, Rooh Afza is a “fruit-filled, friendly punch perfect for hot days” and has been in the market since 1907.