Delhi High Court declines PIL against Navjot Singh Sidhu’s posts about Ayurveda and wife’s cancer recovery

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking directions for a scientific study on claims made by Congress politician Navjot Singh Sidhu regarding his wife’s alleged recovery from Stage 4 cancer through diet regime and ayurveda [Divya Rana vs. Union Of India, Ministry Of Health And Family Welfare, & Ors.]. .The PIL also sought the temporary removal of the posts made by Sidhu about the same on social media platforms, X and Meta..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 remarked.The Court further said that if the petitioner does not agree with Sidhu's views, he need not subscribe to them."There was a television serial against which PIL was filed claiming that children are getting affected. We said you close the TV and don't watch it,” said Chief Justice Manmohan.“He (Sidhu) is not asking you to follow it. He is just saying this is what he did. Counsel, you file a PIL against the manufacturing of cigarette and alcohol instead. I’m sure you will agree that cannot be healthy at all," Justice Gedela said.The petitioner then chose to withdraw the PIL..The petitioner highlighted the responsibility of media and social platforms to ensure accurate dissemination of health-related information, emphasizing the ethical implications of broadcasting unverified medical claims.“These claims, while offering hope to cancer patients, are currently unverified and risk misleading the public if not scientifically validated,” the PIL stated. .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.He sought 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.The PIL further sought 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 Court refused to entertain the plea.“There are books that are bad, you don’t have to read them. Don’t read them, who is asking you?” stated Justice Gedela."We have a proper mechanism to deal with such cases. We cannot put fear of contempt on freedom of speech,” Chief Justice Manmohan remarked.The petitioner then withdrew the PIL.The petition was filed through advocate Amit Kumar Jha.