Delhi HC refuses to entertain PIL against Navjot Sidhu’s cancer cure claim
The petition, filed by advocate Divya Rana, objected to statements made by Sidhu regarding how his wife was cured of stage 4 cancer by following a strict diet plan.
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Following the court’s refusal to entertain the petition, the petitioner withdrew the plea. (File Photo)The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a public interest litigation seeking the court’s direction to former cricketer and former Rajya Sabha member Navjot Singh Sidhu to provide medical reports of his wife’s cancer treatment and test the efficacy of claims he made on a cancer cure.
The petition, filed by advocate Divya Rana, objected to statements made by Sidhu regarding how his wife was cured of stage 4 cancer by following a strict diet plan. Noting that being a public figure makes his statements influential, the petitioner submitted before a bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela that such claims are unscientific and can lead to widespread dissemination of unverified claims and relying on such unproven methods.
Refusing to entertain the plea as it did not fall in the court’s domain, CJ Manmohan remarked, “He is just voicing his opinion. He has later on said he was advised by the doctors. It is his freedom of speech… You can’t say he does not have freedom of speech… You counter his claims by your free speech. We believe in freedom of speech in this country. This is not our domain.”
CJ Manmohan further went on to remark, “When I became a judge for the first time, there was an obnoxious serial, they wanted it shut down but then shut your TV, no… The wife is a doctor…if she is feeling better…”
Addressing the petitioner, Justice Gedela too orally remarked, “You file a PIL against manufacturers of cigarettes, why don’t you do that…”
Following the court’s refusal to entertain the petition, the petitioner withdrew the plea.
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