Former Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is facing legal troubles as he has been sued for defamation by his ex-business partners, Mihir Diwakar and Saumya Das. The couple filed a case against Dhoni in the Delhi High Court seeking permanent injunction and damages to prevent him from making defamatory statements against them in the media.
However, Dhoni’s counsel argued that the defamation suit was not maintainable, and the single-judge bench of Justice Prathiba Singh refused to pass any interim order against Dhoni and several media houses and social media platforms.
The court directed Diwakar and Das to specify the allegations against the media houses that allegedly defamed them and explain how news about the cheating complaint filed by Dhoni defamed them. Advocate Siddhant Kumar, representing the news agency ANI, defended the media’s position, stating that they only published factual reports about the complaint filed by Dhoni against the couple.
The lawsuit has been filed against Dhoni, as well as Facebook parent company Meta, Twitter (now known as X), Google, YouTube, and 30 media houses and web portals.
Dhoni accused Diwakar and Das of defrauding him of approximately Rs 16 crore by failing to honor a contract to establish cricket academies in 2017. The couple denies these fraud allegations and claims that Dhoni’s accusations are baseless, vindictive, and malicious.
Senior advocate Satvik Verma, representing Diwakar and Das, argued that the media houses have already labeled them guilty, which is unjustifiable as the case is still ongoing.
As the legal battle continues, it remains to be seen how the court will adjudicate the matter and what implications it will have for both Dhoni and his former business partners.