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MS Dhoni (Source: Twitter)
In a recent development on Thursday, January 18, the Delhi High Court instructed that both the court registry and the plaintiffs, Mihir Diwakar and his wife Soumya Das, to notify Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and former Indian cricket champion about the defamation suit that is filed against him earlier this week.
The lawsuit revolves around alleged false accusations against Diwakar and Das. Initially, the cricketer was expected to appear before Justice Pratibha M. Singh for a preliminary hearing at the Honourable High Court. However, Dhoni or any of his representatives did not attend the hearing. In retaliation, a notification will be sent to the cricketer before the upcoming hearing, which is now scheduled for January 29.
Significantly, Dhoni and Diwakar had formed a partnership to establish cricket academies in India and globally, operating under the names "MS Dhoni Sports Complex," "MS Dhoni Cricket Academy," or "MS Dhoni Sports Academy" for Aarka Sports Management, as per a legal contract signed in 2017. However, Dhoni initiated a criminal conspiracy case against Diwakar, alleging that he continued to use the aforementioned names even after the authorization to do so was revoked.
Dayanand Sharma and associates will go to the next hearing
As reported by Bar and Bench, on January 6, Dhoni's legal representatives held a press conference and levelled accusations against Diwakar and Das for various actions, including forgery, cheating, using forged documents as genuine, and criminal conspiracy, under different sections of the Indian Penal Code. Dhoni's legal team, led by Dayanand Sharma and associates, presently representing him in the criminal conspiracy case against Diwakar in Ranchi's District Court, will receive a notification to represent the five time IPL champion in the defamation suit during the scheduled hearing.
It is important to note that Diwakar's legal representatives are actively working to remove all purportedly false allegations disseminated through various social media platforms such as Google, Meta, YouTube, and X, asserting that these allegations are causing harm to his reputation. Meanwhile, the news agency ANI (Asian News International), one of the defendants in the case, attended the hearing on Thursday.