The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the claims of Navjot Singh Sidhu that his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu recovered from stage 4 cancer with the help of an Ayurvedic diet plan. The PIL had also sought removal of social media posts by the cricketer-turned-politician about the same.
The petition had alleged that such claims might promote misinformation about cancer treatment, potentially deterring patients from modern medical care. However, a Bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said that Sidhu was expressing his personal opinion and his freedom of speech cannot be curtailed.
“He is just voicing his opinion. He has later on said he was advised by the doctors. It is his 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,” Chief Justice Manmohan said.
Navjot Singh Sidhu had earlier credited his wife’s recovery to a strict Ayurvedic-inspired diet, which included herbal drinks, use of herbs like neem and turmeric, and fasting. He has said that the diet chart facilitated the treatment of his wife, that that is why he is releasing the diet plan for the benefit of the people.
Treatment + Diet – Great combination for Cancer cure! pic.twitter.com/Q8y4DPfGV3
— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) November 22, 2024
Doctors had said that Navjot Kaur Sidhu had only 3% chance of recovery from her stage 4 cancer, but medical treatment along with lifestyle and diet changes treated her condition completely. Sidhu had said after extensive research and consultations, they had zeroed on an Ayurveda-based diet plan for his wife, which accelerated her recovery.
He had said, “We learnt that cancer inflammation comes from milk, carbohydrates like wheat, refined maida, refined sugar, refined oil, milk products and aerated drinks. It was totally cut off from her diet. She was put on ancient ‘desi’ remedies like warm water with lemon, neem, raw turmeric, garlic, etc.”
Sidhu said a positron emission tomography (PET) scan was conducted on his wife, which testified that she was clinically cancer-free now.
Sidhu’s comments on the Ayurvedic diet plan sparked criticism from some people who alleged that claims made in the video as unscientific and lacked in medical credibility. Several doctors criticised him for the comments, asserting that his wife recovered due to modern medical treatments and the traditional diets had no role in it. Dr. C S Pramesh, director of Tata Memorial Hospital, criticized Sidhu’s claims as unscientific on social media. He said that medical treatments like surgery and chemotherapy cured Mrs Sidhu, not the Ayurvedic dietary regimen.
Responding to this, Sidhu later clarified that his wife underwent comprehensive medical treatment alongside the Ayurvedic diet plan, which complemented her overall recovery process.
— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) November 25, 2024
In a video shared on 25 November, while Sidhu said that doctors provided the primary treatment, the Ayurvedic diet was adopted and implemented on the advice of doctors and experts. Sidhu’s wife also asserted that the Ayurvedic diet plan helped her reduce weight, which helped in her treatment of cancer.
He also shared the diet plan on social media for the benefit of others.
Following this, a petition was filed at the Delhi High Court seeking directions for a scientific study on the claims made by Sidhu and his wife, and the removal of the social media posts by Sidhu on the claims on Meta and X. The petitioner also sought directions to Sidhu to provide his wife’s medical records regarding the cancer diagnosis and the alleged recovery through the diet plan.
The other demands made in the plea were directions to the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to frame guidelines for regulating the dissemination of unverified medical or health-related claims on digital platforms and social media, and directions to the Indian Council of Medical Research and the All India Institute of Ayurveda to initiate an investigation into Sidhu’s claims.
However, the high court has rejected the PIL, asserting that regulating personal medical narratives was beyond its scope. The court added that if the petitioner does not agree with Sidhu’s views, he need not subscribe to them. The court said, “He is not asking you to follow it. He is just saying this is what he did.”
Defending the freedom of speech of Sidhu, Chief Justice Manmohan said, “We have a proper mechanism to deal with such cases. We cannot put fear of contempt on freedom of speech.” The court stated that disagreements should be addressed through discourse, not legal suppression. “Counter free speech by free speech and not by curtailing his free speech under the fear of legal action or contempt. We still have freedom of speech in this country,” the bench stated and advised the petitioner to engage in open dialogue if he disagreed with Sidhu’s views instead.
The court also advised the petitioner to file a petition against the manufacturing of cigarettes and alcohol instead, saying that he would agree that these are not healthy at all.
Following the court’s verdict, the petitioner chose to withdraw the petition.
