Celebrity healer to the stars sued by patient who 'needed double leg amputation after treatment'

Mosaraf Ali has built up an enviable client list treating a range of conditions with alternative therapies including yoga, relaxation and massage.

He is credited with having helped Camilla stop smoking and socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson cure her cocaine habit. He also advised Miss Halliwell on weight loss.

Raj Bathija, 69, a textile trader from Mumbai, needed a double amputation. He alleges Mosaraf Ali should have spotted the need for conventional treatment

But the quality of care he provides at his Central London clinic is being questioned by Raj Bathija, 69, a textile trader from Mumbai.

Mr Bathija was treated by Dr Ali in September 2005 after having two strokes that left him struggling to walk and spending most of his time in a wheelchair.

In papers lodged with the High Court, he claims he was advised to eat potassium-rich foods and was given a massage and physiotherapy.

Dr Ali's celebrity clients included Geri Halliwell and the Duchess of Cornwall

But the massage at the Integrated Medical Centre left him in pain and by the following morning he had pins and needles in his left foot and the leg was pale and cold.

Dr Ali allegedly recommended more massage, taking a supplement and putting the foot in hot water, but both legs eventually became cold and discoloured.

Four days after the initial consultation Mr Bathija was taken to St Thomas' Hospital where doctors said his legs were so badly damaged from chronic shortage of blood supply that both had to be amputated above the knee.

Mr Bathija, who is receiving legal aid, is claiming compensation on the grounds that Dr Ali and his brother Imran, who did the massages, were negligent by failing to recognise a serious condition and refer him to hospital urgently.

His daughter Shibani said: 'My father was in a wheelchair but was making progress with his walking. He hoped he might become a bit more independent. With the amputations, that's all gone.'

Mr Bathija's solicitor, Edwina Rawson, told The Observer: 'There's a danger that people will have alternative treatments simply because some celebrities swear by them. The Bathija family were impressed by Dr Ali's clientele.'

Dr Ali, a natural health practitioner, received his medical degree from the Patrice Lumumba People's Friendship University in Moscow in 1980.

Dr Ali's solicitors Capsticks said: 'As this matter is the subject of legal proceedings it would be inappropriate to comment.'

Dr Ali is believed to have given Geri Halliwell weight loss tips amd helped the Duchess of Cornwall give up smoking