On Tuesday, the Delhi high court refused to approve homoeopathic treatment for mild COVID-19 cases. The judicial body stated that medical bodies like the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) are the best judges to decide and approve the medical protocol for various medical conditions.

Earlier, the petitioners had approached the high court seeking directives to notify the Ministry of Ayush to allow homoeopathic treatment of mild cases of COVID-19 and add therapy in severe to critical cases. They were also seeking approval to add homoeopathic medicines of Arsenicum Album-Phosphorus-Tuberculinum (APT) in a series of intervention protocols to prevent COVID-19 infections.

In response to the petition, the high court stated that the petitioners are free to design any research or clinical drug trials, but the framework should be set by the law.

A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad stated that they have no doubts regarding the effectiveness of homoeopathic medicines, but in cases of pandemics, where the protocol has to be validated by the government, it should always be left to the discretion of the government, which is based on expert opinions.