MS DHONI ₹ CRIGHTIDADE DE CRIGENÇÃO DE 100 CRIGEM FINALMENTE DESENTENDO PARA JULHADO Após 10 anos por Madras Madras

Nearly a decade after Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s name was dragged into the 2013 IPL betting controversy, the former India captain’s ₹100-crore defamation suit is finally set to move forward. On Monday (August 11), the Madras High Court ordered the commencement of the trial, appointing an advocate commissioner to record Dhoni’s testimony away from the court premises to avoid any public disruption.

According to The Hindu, Justice C.V. Karthikeyan took the decision in view of Dhoni’s celebrity status and the logistical challenges his physical presence in court could cause. The trial, filed in 2014 against Zee Media Corporation, journalist Sudhir Chaudhary, retired IPS officer G. Sampath Kumar, and News Nation Network, had been stalled for years due to multiple applications and procedural delays.

Dhoni ready to take the stand

In an affidavit presented by senior counsel P.R. Raman, Dhoni expressed his willingness to expedite the proceedings. “The above request is made with the intent to avoid any undue delay (in disposal of the suit pending in the High Court for over a decade) and to support the fair, just, and speedy adjudication of the suit. I state that I shall extend my full co-operation with the Advocate Commissioner and comply with all directions issued by this honourable court regarding the trial and the recording of evidence,” the affidavit read.

Dhoni confirmed he would be available for examination and cross-examination between October 20 and December 10, 2025, with the exact venue and dates to be decided mutually by the parties. Justice Karthikeyan assured that the advocate commissioner, who is likely to be a retired district judge, would be chosen from an official list maintained by the court.

In December 2023, a Division Bench convicted retired IPS officer Sampath Kumar of criminal contempt for remarks against the Supreme Court and Madras High Court during his defence in the defamation case, sending him to 15 days of simple imprisonment, a punishment later stayed by the Supreme Court in 2024.