MS DHONI MOVES HIGH COURT FOR CONTEMPT PROCEEDINGS AGAINST IPS OFFICER

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a former Indian cricketer, recently filed a contempt petition against G Sampath Kumar, an IPS officer, in the Madras High Court. The IPS officer is the target of Dhoni's contempt of court complaint since he reportedly made comments about the Supreme Court and certain senior counsels over the Indian Premier League (IPL) betting case.

After making the statement, Dhoni sued Sampath and a private TV network for defamation. The former captain of the Indian cricket team approached the court for help in 2021 to stop Sampath and others from demeaning him.

Back then, the High Court issued an interim injunction prohibiting Kumar and the other parties to the case from making defamatory comments about Dhoni. However, it was discovered that the IPS officer had already made a written request for the defamation case to be dismissed in December 2021.

Dhoni preferred the current contempt application on October 11, 2022, after getting consent from Advocate-General R Shanmugasundaram on July 18, 2022, to file the contempt application, in order to punish Kumar for his alleged actions of making remarks against the judiciary in violation of the court's interim order from 2014 by Dhoni.

Due to time constraints, the case—which concerns remarks made by the officer who probed the 2013 IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal—was not taken up, but it may be brought up again on Tuesday.

The former cricketer had also sought Rs 100 crore in compensation from the IPS officer for levelling match-fixing accusations against him. In his affidavit, Dhoni sought a permanent injunction against Sampath Kumar, the then-inspector general of police, from claiming that he (Dhoni) was involved in match-fixing and spot-fixing of matches.

The court had earlier in 2014 directed Kumar to refrain from criticising MS Dhoni. The officer allegedly filed an affidavit to the highest court that contained "derogatory" statements about the judiciary and Madras High Court.

The plea stated that “The statements of the third respondent are scandalous and are capable of shaking the faith of the common man in the justice system,” adding that it constitutes an “act of criminal contempt”.

“I submit that the statements of the Respondent/3rd Defendant made by him in his additional written statement lowers the authority of the Court and also has the effect of interfering and obstructing the administration of justice,” it added.

The officer's complaint that the top court had "deviated from its focus on the 'Rule of law' and shelved the deposition in sealed cover for reasons" was also mentioned in the plea.

Dhoni allegedly brought the case before the Madras High Court with the "sole focus" of "gagging" the IPS officer, according to Kumar.

The plea said “The 3rd defendant submits that in the Plaint the sole focus was to gag the 3rdDefendant, that’s the main reason they chose Madras High Court whereas none of the other three Defendants or the Plaintiff are based in Tamil Nadu. The Choice of Senior Counsels representing the Plaintiff speaks volumes about the conspiracy behind this Plaint.”