MHC directs the Zee media to answer MS Dhoni's interrogatories
Further, the counsel sought to set aside the single judge order to answer the interrogatories of MS Dhoni.
MS Dhoni. File photo
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has refused to set aside the single judge order against the Zee Media Corporation Limited and directed the media house to answer the interrogatories posed by former Indian cricket team captain M S Dhoni.
The Zee Media Corporation Limited filed an appeal in the Madras High Court to set aside the single-judge court issued in 2022.
The case was heard by a division bench comprising Justice R Mahadevan and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq. MS Dhoni is a cricketer of world repute and a dedicated person who represented our Country at the highest levels of international cricket with sincerity and devotion, observed the bench
"When an allegation is made against such an international personality, the news channel (Zee media) has to be cautious in telecasting news reports against such person," observed the bench.
The counsel Jose John appeared for the Zee media, contended that the interrogatories cannot be considered as they are in the nature of questions of cross examination and that they sought to gather evidence on the side of M S Dhoni. Justice Mudgal Committee appointed to go into the allegations of betting spot-fixing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches, has not given any report and completed the investigation about the alleged involvement of the first M S Dhoni in betting, spot-fixing and match-fixing in IPL matches, argued the counsel.
Further, the counsel sought to set aside the single judge order to answer the interrogatories of M S Dhoni.
Senior counsel P.R. Raman, for MS Dhoni, contended that the interrogatories are connected with the matter in dispute and that answering the interrogatories will only pave the way for effective adjudication of the rights of the parties.
After the submissions, the bench observed that there is no ground had been made out by the appellant for setting aside the impugned order. Further the bench directed the Zee media to answer the interrogatories within a period of 10 days and dismissed the appeal petition.
In 2014 M S Dhoni filed a Rs.100 crore suit against the Zee media and Sampath Kumar (the investigation officer of the IPL betting case) to restrain publishing any news about him in connection with the IPL betting scam.
MS Dhoni filed a petition in the Madras High Court (MHC) to direct the Zee media to answer the interrogatories posed by him. The single judge directed the Zee media to answer the interrogatories. The MHC also dismissed the petition filed by the Zee media challenging the single-judge order.
