A defamation case has been filed against cricketer and former Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the Delhi High Court by his former business partner Mihir Diwakar and Diwakar’s wife Soumya Das. Diwakar and Das have sought directions to restrain Dhoni and people working on his behalf from making defamatory allegations against him in connection with the alleged breach of the 2017 contract.
According to the Bar & Bench report, this contract was signed between Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Diwakar and Arka Sports Management, a company owned by Das. This contract was for the establishment of cricket academies in India and globally. This case has been listed for hearing before Justice Pratibha M Singh on January 18. In this petition, it has been alleged that Dhoni and people working on his behalf made defamatory allegations against Diwakar and Das that they had defrauded Dhoni of about Rs 15 crore by not honoring the contract for setting up cricket academies.
Former cricketer Diwakar, who represented India in the Under-19 World Cup in 2000, has said that before any court could give any concrete finding on the issue, Dhoni’s lawyer Dayanand Sharma held a press conference on 6 January 2024. And made allegations against Das. Diwakar and Das have argued that these allegations were widely reported in the media, which tarnished their image.
What is the demand of the petitioner?
Therefore, he has sought direction to restrain Dhoni and the people working for him from making any defamatory allegations against him. The suit also seeks directions to X (formerly Twitter) as well as Google, YouTube, Meta (Facebook) and several news platforms to remove the alleged defamatory articles/posts against Diwakar and Das.
Dhoni had earlier filed a complaint against Diwakar and Das for alleged breach of the contract signed in 2017 to run cricket academies and sports complexes globally under the names ‘MS Dhoni Cricket Academy’, ‘MS Dhoni Sports Academy’ or ‘MS Dhoni’. A criminal case was registered in Ranchi. Criminal complaint for offenses under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (fraud), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) and 120B. Was recorded. Dhoni alleged that even after his contract was cancelled, Diwakar and Das opened several cricket academies under the names mentioned in the contract.
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Tags: DELHI HIGH COURT, Mahendra Singh Dhoni
FIRST PUBLISHED: January 16, 2024, 20:18 IST