On 4 June 2011 yoga guru Baba Ramdev began an indefinite fast against corruption and black money at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi. Shortly after 1 am on 5 June, Delhi Police cancelled the permission for his camp and cleared the ground with tear gas and, according to reporters and the Supreme Court, blows with batons. Police then flew Ramdev to Haridwar. One supporter, Rajbala, was left paralysed and died in September. In February 2012 the Supreme Court called the action an abuse of power, ordered compensation and prosecutions, and also held Ramdev's trust partly to blame.
Key takeaways
- Baba Ramdev began an indefinite fast against black money at Ramlila Maidan, Delhi, on 4 June 2011 after talks with Union ministers failed.
- After 1 am on 5 June 2011, Delhi Police cancelled the camp's permission, cleared the ground with tear gas and force, and flew Ramdev to Haridwar.
- Police said the permission was only for a yoga camp, cited a threat to Ramdev, and denied a lathicharge.
- Rajbala, 51, suffered spinal injuries that night and died on 26 September 2011. Her family blamed police; police said it was a stampede.
- In February 2012 the Supreme Court called the eviction arbitrary but not mala fide, and held Ramdev's trust partly liable.
Background: a second anti-corruption front
Anna Hazare's fast on the Lokpal Bill in April 2011 had drawn a huge public response, and the government had been criticised for not engaging with him sooner. Ramdev, the Haridwar-based yoga guru whose Bharat Swabhiman Trust organised the Ramlila camp, announced his own indefinite fast, focused on black money held abroad Tribune.
His demands, as listed by the Tribune, included fast-tracking black money cases, steps to bring back money stashed abroad, a higher minimum support price for grains, a pro-farmer land acquisition law and wider use of Hindi Tribune. He said the satyagraha would spread from Ramlila Maidan to 624 districts Tribune.
Delhi Police had given the trust permission for a yoga training camp at Ramlila ground from 1 to 20 June for 4,000 to 5,000 people. According to the Home Minister, the trust wrote on 28 May that "there will be no program at all except residential yoga camp" Home Minister's statement, 8 June 2011.
The talks with ministers
On 1 June four Cabinet ministers, Pranab Mukherjee, Kapil Sibal, Pawan Kumar Bansal and Subodh Kant Sahay, met Ramdev at the VIP lounge of Delhi airport when he arrived from Ujjain. Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrashekhar was also present. The talks lasted about two hours. Ramdev said the government's response was "positive" but the fast would go ahead Tribune.
On 3 June Sibal and Sahay held a five-hour meeting with Ramdev at the Claridges Hotel and gave him a written note on the government's steps. Ramdev said the government had agreed to special courts for corruption cases, among other points, but declared there had been no breakthrough Tribune.
On the evening of 4 June, with the fast under way, Sibal released a letter signed by Ramdev's aide Acharya Balakrishna. It said that because the government was sincere, Ramdev would sit only for a three-day "tap". Sibal said Ramdev had gone back on his word. Ramdev called this a lie, said his aide had been made to write the letter for the Prime Minister's eyes only, and said, "I will never talk to Kapil Sibal in my lifetime." Late that night the government sent him another letter promising a committee to frame a law declaring black money a national asset Tribune.
Timeline
Fast begins; letter released
Ramdev starts his indefinite fast. Sibal makes public the Balakrishna letter Tribune.
Police enter the ground
A large force including the Rapid Action Force moves in, fires tear gas and uses batons as supporters resist Tribune.
Ramdev jumps into the crowd
He leaps from the stage, is later found in a salwar-kameez posing as an injured woman, and is found by police around 4 am Tribune.
Flown to Haridwar
Served an order barring him from Delhi for a fortnight, he is flown out and resumes his fast in Haridwar Tribune.
Supreme Court and NHRC act
The Supreme Court takes suo motu cognisance; the NHRC seeks reports Tribune.
Fast ends
Ramdev takes juice from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Morari Bapu in a Dehradun hospital after nine days Tribune.
Rajbala dies
She dies at GB Pant Hospital after 114 days PTI via Governance Now.
Supreme Court verdict
The court faults the police and the government, and also Ramdev's trust Tribune.
What happened that night
According to the FIR filed by the station house officer of Kamla Market police station, police went to Ramdev around 12:30 am with a letter cancelling the camp's permission, and he refused to accept it. The FIR says police first used water cannons, after which the crowd regrouped and began throwing stones Tribune.
Tribune reported that Ramdev asked for five minutes to collect his belongings, then took the microphone and shouted "Vande Mataram" to rouse sleeping followers. Clashes went on for about two hours. Some supporters armed themselves with iron rods and fire extinguishers and threw stones, and police "hit back forcefully" Tribune.
Devendra Tai, who carried Rajbala off the stage, told Governance Now that police began beating supporters who had formed a human chain around Ramdev, and that no ambulances were stationed Governance Now.
Injury figures differ. Supporters said more than 100 people were hurt; police initially said 39 Tribune. Home Minister P Chidambaram later said 43 civilians were injured, of whom two had fractures and two, Rajbala and Sunil Kumar, needed surgery, and that 32 police personnel were injured Home Minister's statement.
Rajbala's injury and death
Rajbala, a yoga teacher from Gurgaon, had stayed at the venue after her family went home. She suffered a spinal injury, became quadriplegic and was kept on a ventilator at GB Pant Hospital Governance Now. She died on 26 September 2011, aged 51, after 114 days PTI via Governance Now.
Claim · Family Her family said she was beaten by police. A man who helped her at the hospital said she told him she was hit by a lathi on her back and fell. Claim · Police Police denied any lathicharge and said she was hurt in a stampede during the eviction PTI via Governance Now Governance Now.
She died due to police action. Everybody knows why police took such action against the protest.
Rajbala's daughter-in-law, 26 September 2011 (PTI)
Both accounts
Ramdev's and supporters' account
Ramdev said police tried to strangle him while arresting him, and that "it could have been a big massacre similar to Jalianwalla Bagh" had he not appealed for calm Tribune. He defended his disguise, saying "It was not a weakness to be in woman's dress" Tribune. In court, his counsel Ram Jethmalani argued that the use of force was a "political decision" taken well before 4 June Governance Now.
Police and government account
Government's position Delhi Police said the permission was only for a yoga camp, but the event became a political assembly of more than 20,000. Commissioner BK Gupta said intelligence inputs showed a threat to Ramdev. Police denied a lathicharge and said they fired eight tear gas shells only after supporters threw stones Tribune. A later police report to the NHRC cited a crowd above 50,000 and the "close proximity" of "communally hypersensitive localities" PTI via India TV.
Chidambaram said the government had decided Ramdev would not be allowed to hold a protest or fast at Ramlila ground, and would be directed to leave Delhi if he persisted. He cited RSS, ABVP and VHP circulars backing Ramdev's campaign, and said police used "minimum force" Home Minister's statement.
It is unfortunate that operation had to be conducted but quite honestly, there was no alternative.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, 6 June 2011 (PTI)
Mukherjee said there was "no permission given" for a political agitation. Sibal said "it was not a yoga platform, but a political platform" and called Ramdev "another face of the RSS". Bansal said, "It was not a crackdown, we had to do it to maintain law and order" Deccan Herald. Ramdev said he had forgiven the Prime Minister but that he had "tainted democracy" Governance Now.
The BJP held a satyagraha at Rajghat, and an NDA delegation led by LK Advani asked the President for a special session of Parliament Tribune.
The Supreme Court case
On 6 June 2011 a vacation bench of Justices BS Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar took suo motu cognisance, citing "the brutal force that was used by the police to disperse the innocent people". It asked the Union Home Secretary, Delhi Chief Secretary and Police Commissioner for personal affidavits Tribune. The case, In Re: Ramlila Maidan Incident, was decided on 23 February 2012 in two concurring judgments LiveLaw Deccan Herald.
- Documented The court said the eviction "suffers from the element of arbitrariness and abuse of power to some extent" and was "an assault on the very basic democratic values". It found no emergency and no "imminent need to intervene" Tribune.
- It did not find the order mala fide. Justice Swatanter Kumar said he was "unable to dispel the argument" that the Home Ministry's decision "reflected its shadow" on the police's decision Deccan Herald.
- Justice Chauhan wrote that to disturb sleep "would amount to torture" and saw no "plausible reason for the police to resort to blows on a sleeping crowd" Deccan Herald.
- Ramdev and his trust were held guilty of "contributory negligence": he "ought not have insisted on continuing" and should have asked followers to disperse Tribune.
- Compensation: Rs 5 lakh to Rajbala's family, Rs 50,000 for each grievous injury and Rs 25,000 for each simple injury, shared 3:1 by the state and the trust. FIRs and charge sheets within three months against violent police personnel and supporters PTI via Tribune.
Ramdev called it a victory but said, "It is not correct that I was equally responsible." Commissioner Gupta pointed to the finding of contributory negligence Deccan Herald.
Outcome
- Deaths: One. Rajbala died on 26 September 2011.
- Injuries: 43 civilians and 32 police per the government; more than 100 per supporters.
- Ramdev: Removed from Delhi and barred for a fortnight; ended his fast on 12 June 2011.
- NHRC: Stopped its inquiry in August 2011 because the Supreme Court was seized of the matter PTI via India TV.
- Prosecution: In June 2012 a magistrate took cognisance under IPC Section 336 against sub-inspector Sushil Kumar, head constable Vijender and four constables Millennium Post. Eleven Ramdev associates were charge-sheeted for rioting and other offences. In May 2013 a sessions court rejected five policemen's plea that the case was time-barred Daily Excelsior.
- Criticism of the charge sheet: Governance Now called it "a joke" for blaming only junior officers, and charged constables asked, "Do you believe that we decided to use force?" Governance Now Governance Now.
What followed
Ramdev returned to Ramlila Maidan in August 2012 for a second fast. On 13 August he and his supporters were detained while marching towards Parliament; BJP's Nitin Gadkari and JD(U)'s Sharad Yadav joined the rally, and a Congress spokesman called it a political stunt Al Jazeera.
The 2012 judgment is still cited as a key ruling on policing protests. In July 2026, LiveLaw contrasted it with the courts' response to the police action against student protesters at Jantar Mantar, calling it "one of the strongest judicial interventions against police violence in independent India" LiveLaw.
What is still pending
No report of a final verdict in the trial of the six policemen or the 11 associates was found. Whether the compensation was paid in full has also not been confirmed in the sources reviewed. No senior officer or minister was charged.
Questions people ask
What happened at Ramlila Maidan on 4-5 June 2011?
Hours after Baba Ramdev began a fast against corruption and black money, Delhi Police cancelled his camp's permission, imposed Section 144 orders and cleared the ground after 1 am using tear gas and batons. Ramdev was detained and flown to Haridwar.
Why did Delhi Police evict Ramdev's supporters?
Police said permission was only for a yoga camp of about 5,000 people, but it became a political gathering of more than 20,000. They also cited intelligence about a threat to Ramdev and the area's communal sensitivity.
What did the Supreme Court decide in the Ramlila Maidan case?
On 23 February 2012 it called the eviction arbitrary and an abuse of power, but not mala fide. It ordered compensation, prosecutions of violent police and supporters, and held Ramdev's trust guilty of contributory negligence.
Were any police officers punished?
Six junior personnel were charge-sheeted under IPC Section 336 in 2012. No final verdict has been reported, and no senior officer was charged.
Sources
- Tribune: Ramdev adamant on fast track, 2 June 2011
- Tribune: In crisis control mode, govt opens back-channel parleys with Ramdev, 3 June 2011
- Tribune: Talks fail, Ramdev's fast on, 4 June 2011
- Tribune: Letter puts Ramdev on backfoot, 5 June 2011
- Tribune: Ramdev evicted from Delhi, drama turns political, 6 June 2011
- Tribune: SC issues notice to govt on Ramdev's eviction; NHRC, NCW seek report, 7 June 2011
- PTI via Governance Now: PM defends crackdown on sleeping protesters, June 2011
- Deccan Herald: Pranab Mukherjee justifies crackdown, June 2011
- Text of Home Minister P Chidambaram's statement on Ramdev's protest (reproduced by TaxGuru), 8 June 2011
- Tribune: Ramdev breaks 9-day fast, 13 June 2011
- Governance Now: Is Raj Bala a victim of state crackdown?, 15 June 2011
- Tribune: In SC, Delhi Police justifies crackdown on Ramdev, 18 June 2011
- Governance Now: SC asks Delhi police to justify Ram Lila Maidan crackdown, 11 July 2011
- PTI via Governance Now: Rajbala succumbs to injuries, 26 Sept 2011
- PTI via India TV: NHRC not to make any more probe into Ramlila crackdown, 28 Sept 2011
- PTI via Tribune: Midnight crackdown: SC raps Delhi police, Baba Ramdev, 23 Feb 2012
- Tribune: 2011 Ramlila crackdown: SC slams Delhi Police, pulls up Ramdev, 24 Feb 2012
- Deccan Herald: Crackdown on Baba Ramdev followers 'tyrannical', says SC, 23 Feb 2012
- Governance Now: Ramlila lathi-charge: Police charge sheet is a joke, 11 June 2012
- Millennium Post: Court summons six cops, 12 June 2012
- Governance Now: 'Is this fair?' ask cops charged with lathi-charging Ramdev followers, 12 June 2012
- Al Jazeera: India yoga guru detained at anti-graft rally, 13 Aug 2012
- Daily Excelsior: Ramlila Maidan crackdown: court rejects accused cops' plea, 1 May 2013
- LiveLaw: One Court, Two Eras: Judicial approaches to Ramlila Maidan incident and student protest crackdown, 23 July 2026