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Delhi HC restrains Sjoerd Marijne, HarperCollins from publishing details of Gurjit Kaur's medical issue
News9 Sports
19 Sep 2022 16:29:PM
Sjoerd Marijne talks to dragflicker Gurjit Kaur during the Tokyo Olympics. (Photo Credit: Hockey India library)
Monday's ruling does not state that the book cannot be released. But redacting specific parts in an already published book which was to hit the stands in two days will be tricky for the publishers.
There are question marks over whether Sjoerd Marijne's memoir, Will Power, would release on Wednesday as originally planned. On Monday, the Delhi High Court passed an interim order restraining the book's publishers, HarperCollins Publishers India Private Limited, from putting out any material in the book related to the medical condition of Indian hockey player Gurjit Kaur, News9 Sports has learnt.
While Monday's ruling does not state that the book cannot be released, redacting specific parts in an already published book that refer to Gurjit's medical procedure will be tricky for the publishers with the release scheduled in two days. The book has already been available on a prominent ecommerce website to be pre-ordered for over a week now.
The 26-year-old player had knocked on the doors of the Delhi High Court last week seeking permanent and mandatory injunction as well as damages from HarperCollins. She claimed that she had revealed confidential medical information to Marijne during his time as the coach of the Indian women's team, which he had divulged in his book.
Initially, the Delhi HC had refused to pass an ad interim order while hearing the case on Thursday and had ruled that the book can be released as scheduled before posting the matter for further hearing on November 18.
Marijne was the coach of the Indian women's team at the Tokyo Olympics where they finished fourth, a result which not many expected. Before taking over the women's team, Marijne was in charge of the Indian men's team till the Commonwealth Games in 2018.
The book, which was supposed to be released on Wednesday, has already ruffled a few feathers in Indian hockey circles after The Indian Express published two stories last week. The first report stated that in the book Marijne had written that men's team captain Manpreet Singh had asked a teammate to under-perform so that a friend could get a place in the Indian squad. The paper also carried an excerpt from the book, which noted how FIH president Narinder Batra was unable to name any of the players of the women's team except Rani Rampal.
The two articles had angered players of both teams, not to mention Hockey India. Consequently, the publishers and the former India coach could be staring at more legal troubles as the men's and women's Indian hockey teams released a joint statement on Saturday.
"We have come together to state our deep disappointment in his exploitation of our personal information and false accusations. He has used his time of coaching us for commercial gain to sell his book at the cost of our reputations.
"This is a complete breach of trust and his duty of care as a coach. It also leads to all Indian athletes like us to feel vulnerable in such situations," the players said in the statement in which they said they would pursue legal remedies against the book.
Delhi HC's observations last week
While hearing the case last week, Justice Amit Bansal stated (a copy of his order is with News9 Sports) that he would not pass an ad interim order against the publishing of the book because "the plaintiff (Gurjit) does not deny that she suffers from the medical condition. If the plaintiff has been playing with this medical condition for many years, it cannot remain confidential. The manuscript of the book reveals that the plaintiff told teammates of this medical condition and they all rallied around her. There are laudatory references to the plaintiff in the manuscript of the book that despite the medical condition of the plaintiff, she has achieved success."
The court had also stated 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."
Marijne's lawyers claimed that the coach had spoken about the contentious issue with the player before the manuscript of the book was ready, which Gurjit denies.
Delhi High Court
Gurjit Kaur
Hockey India
Indian Hockey
Indian Hockey Team
Manpreet Singh
Narinder Batra
Sjoerd Marijne
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