Following a complaint by Chandigarh associate professor Punditrao Dharenavar, singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh’s eagerly awaited New Year’s Eve performance in Ludhiana was tainted by legal turmoil.

In response to the complaint, the Deputy Director of the Punjab government’s Women and Child Department sent an official notice to the district commissioner of Ludhiana, requesting that they forbid the singer from singing certain songs on his December 31, 2024, live performance.

The notification, which was sent to the Ludhiana municipal authorities, expressly demands that songs like “Patiala Pegg,” “5 Tara Theke,” and “Case (Jeeb Vicho Feem Labbiya)” that have been accused of promoting alcohol be prohibited, even if the words have been changed.

The complaint makes reference to earlier warnings that Diljit Dosanjh received from several commissions, advising him not to play certain contentious songs.

The performer is said to have persisted in performing them with minor lyrical changes in spite of these warnings.

The complaint’s filer, Panditrao Dharenavar, voiced serious worries about the influence of these songs, especially on young audiences and when there are minors present.

Dharenavar added to the complexity of the matter by referring to a 2019 Punjab and Haryana High Court decision that ordered the police to make sure that no music endorsing drugs, alcohol, or violence be played at public gatherings, including live concerts.

The court’s ruling states that songs that promote drugs or alcohol have a negative effect on impressionable youth.

Additionally, Panditrao has said unequivocally that if the concert goes forward with these recordings, he is willing to take the case all the way to the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

He also chastised Dosanjh for singing these kinds of songs while wearing a pagadi, a traditional headdress that, in his opinion, shouldn’t be connected to spreading bad morals.

As a last-minute addition to Dosanjh’s Dil-Luminati India Tour, the Ludhiana event served as the culmination of his three-month national tour.

The tour was originally scheduled to end in Guwahati, however on December 23, the Ludhiana performance was revealed, and tickets sold out minutes after they went on sale.

Diljit Dosanjh had previously come under fire in other locations for like reasons in the days before the performance in Ludhiana.

The Telangana government sent him a legal notice during his November performance in Hyderabad, citing a complaint against him for performing songs that encouraged violence and drunkenness.

The singer also addressed the problem of ticket sales on the black market during his Indore performance, refuting claims that his tickets were being resold for exorbitant rates.

The dispute over the lyrics of Diljit Dosanjh’s songs is not new. The artist gained notoriety earlier this year for remarks he made about booze in his songs.

He said at a performance in Ahmedabad that if the Indian government banned alcohol countrywide, he would stop writing songs about it. “If all the states declare themselves as dry states, I promise I won’t sing about alcohol ever again,” Dosanjh said.

Dosanjh’s Dil-Luminati tour has been a huge success, with tickets selling out at every location despite these continuing legal issues.