Sjoerd Marijne, former coach of the Indian women’s national hockey team, and HarperCollins Publishers India were given a temporary injunction on Tuesday preventing them from publishing private information about hockey players in Marijne’s book.
The decision was made by a single Judge bench in a case brought by Hockey India. Hockey India claimed that Marijne had signed a confidentiality agreement with them and that her disclosure of player information constituted a breach of that agreement.
“A prima facie case is made out in favour of the plaintiff. In my considered view and based on the order of the Division Bench of this court, I am of the prima facie view that the confidentiality clause has been breached by Defendant No. 2 (Marijne) by seeking to public the aforesaid information. Grave harm and irreparable injury will be caused to the concerned player if the information is allowed to come in public domain,” the Court noted in its order.
Additionally, the court issued a directive prohibiting Marijne from making use of two images for which Hockey India has copyright.
Will Power: The Inside Story of the Incredible Turnaround in Indian Women’s Hockey, a book by Marijne, has been mired in controversy, and the Delhi High Court has already issued orders prohibiting him from publishing details about Gurjit Kaur, a player in women’s hockey, and Manpreet Singh, the captain of India’s men’s hockey team.
The Court listed all cases relating to the book for further hearing on November 18.
