Siddha practitioner S Subramanian said in his petition that he formulated a medicine with 65 herbs in the form of a powder. Consuming this mixture – named IMPRO – after boiling it in water would develop immunity, and prevent and even cure several diseases including COVID, he claimed. As his representations to authorities seeking virology study of the medicine was not considered, he moved the court.

During the hearing, the counsel representing the Centre said the Ministry had sent a letter to the petitioner seeking clarifications. But he did not respond, the court was informed. The division bench of Justices N Kirubakaran and B Pugalendhi directed Subramanian to forward a letter to CCRAS with all the clarifications that were sought.

Pointing out that funds worth several crores were set aside by the State and central governments for Siddha medicine every year, the bench asked whether any research activity was taken up. The counsel replied that the Centre was undertaking research, and added that ‘Kabasura Kudineer’ was being provided to people as a precautionary measure to prevent COVID based on the outcome of such a research.

The bench then asked why the herbal concoction was not declared as a medicine to prevent COVID. To this, the counsel replied that it could be done only after experiments and observation.

Following this, the bench asked details including the number of persons on whom the Kabasura Kudineer was tested and the number of persons recovered from the infection, and how long its effects lasted.

The bench then directed the central agencies to submit a report furnishing all the details and adjourned the case to November 10.