MS Dhoni moves HC for contempt proceedings against IPS officer

Former Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni has recently moved a contempt petition at the Madras High Court against Indian Police Service (IPS) officer G Sampath Kumar. Dhoni’s this contempt of court plea against the IPS officer is for allegedly making remarks against the Supreme Court and certain senior counsels on the issue relating to the Indian Premier League (IPL) betting case.

Following his remark, Dhoni filed a defamation suit against a private TV network and Sampath. In his 2021 plea, the former Indian cricket team captain sought court intervention to restrain Sampath and others from making defamatory remarks against him.

The High Court, back then, had given an interim injunction restraining Kumar and the other parties to the case from making any defamatory statements against Dhoni. However, it was seen that the IPS officer had already given a written representation in December 2021, requesting the defamation case to be quashed.

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

However, the case, which is about remarks made by the officer who had investigated the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal of 2013, wasn’t taken up due to a shortage of time but might come up again on Tuesday.

In addition to this, the former cricketer had also sought compensation worth Rs 100 crore from the IPS officer for making match-fixing allegations against him. Dhoni, in his affidavit, had asked to permanently restrain Sampath Kumar, who was the then Inspector General of Police, from making any statement linking him (Dhoni) to match-fixing and spot-fixing of matches.

Earlier in 2014, the court had restrained Kumar from passing any remarks against MS Dhoni. The officer had allegedly filed an affidavit before the top court containing “derogatory” remarks against 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 plea also revealed that the officer had accused the top court of getting “deviated from its focus on ‘Rule of law’ and shelved the deposition in sealed cover for reasons”.

Kumar had claimed that Dhoni filed the case in the Madras High Court with the “sole focus” to “gag” the IPS officer.

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.”

(With input from agencies)