Delhi HC bars release of ex-hockey coach Sjoerd Marijne’s book
The Delhi High Court on Monday granted an ad interim injunction against the release of the book Will Power, authored Sjoerd Marijne, former coach of the Indian women’s hockey team, and publisher HarperCollins Publishers India Private Ltd after a player, Gurjit Kaur, claimed it contains information pertaining to her medical condition.
Gurjit appealed against the order of a single judge of the high court who had allowed the release of the book on Thursday. In her appeal, the appellant claimed that the author had divulged certain confidential information that was shared the appellant with him in confidence while he was the coach of the Indian hockey team, pertaining to a medical condition that the appellant has said she was suffering from.
Gurjit argued that divulging such confidential information amounts to violation of the Code of Conduct and Sanctions of Hockey India, to which the author of the book was a signatory. The appellant referred to Clause 20 of the Code which states, “The Members, Volunteers, and staff of Hockey India and Hockey India League shall not disclose information entrusted to them in confidence. Disclosure of other information shall not be for personal gain or benefit, nor be undertaken maliciously to damage the reputation of any person or organization”.
Gurjit’s counsel argued that firstly, the nature of the information is confidential since it pertains to her medical condition. Secondly, there is nothing to show that the information regarding the appellant’s medical condition was out in the public, and thirdly, the author who was the coach of the women’s hockey team, along with Gurjit’s teammates, were also bound the code of conduct and sanctions issued Hockey India.
The court observed that there can be no quarrel with the decision of the Supreme Court that the right to protection of data… such as medical information… falls within the reasonable expectation paradigm.
The single judge, in his order passed on Thursday, had observed that “there cannot be any confidentiality or privacy with regard to a medical condition of a sports personality. On a regular basis, there are news reports about injuries and medical conditions of sports personalities. If the plaintiff has been playing with this medical condition for many years, the medical condition cannot remain confidential. The manuscript of the book reveals that the plaintiff told all other teammates of this medical condition and they all rallied around her.”
The single judge had further observed that the book praised the appellant that “despite the medical condition of the plaintiff, she has achieved success in the international field”.
But on Monday, the Division Bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Amit Sharma granted an ad interim injunction restraining Marijne and the HarperCollins from publishing the book or any other matter related to the book pertaining to Gurjit’s medical condition. Issuing a notice on the appeal, the court led the matter for December 7.
