MS Dhoni Defamation Case: Delhi High Court Refuses To Pass Interim Order
The legal dispute stems from a business partnership between Diwakar's Aarka Sports Management Authority Pvt. and Dhoni in 2017.
The Delhi High Court on Monday declined to issue an interim order in the defamation proceedings initiated by Mihir Diwakar and his wife Soumya Das against former Team India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and various media companies.
The legal dispute stems from a business partnership between Diwakar's Aarka Sports Management Authority Pvt. and Dhoni in 2017, aiming to establish the MS Dhoni Cricket Academy and sports complexes.
In August 2021, an email from an unidentified third party claimed the revocation of the agreement. Diwakar contends that, as of that date, he had not received an official letter confirming the revocation, deeming the email legally invalid.
In response, Dhoni, through an advocate, issued a legal notice on Feb. 4, 2023, accusing Aarka of breaching the agreement without specifying details.
Aarka responded to the legal notice, but on Oct. 27, 2023, Dhoni filed a complaint in Jharkhand alleging a Rs 15 crore fraud by Aarka—a detail not mentioned in the February notice.
Diwakar claims that Dhoni's counsel conducted a press conference, making false allegations against Aarka before any court decision on the complaint. This led to Diwakar filing a defamation case on Jan. 11.
The defamation case includes names of YouTube, Google, Dailymotion, and numerous news companies such as Inshorts, India Today (Aaj Tak), Zee News, Times of India, ABP News, Hindustan Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Business Standard Pvt., NDTV India, News Nation, Odishatv.in, Sportskeeda, Cricxtasy, Navbharat Times, ANI, Live Hindustan, Patrika, DNANews, Oneindia, Dy365, Odisha Bhaskar, Cricket Addictor, VTV News (Gujarati), Pardaphash, Mediaoneonline, Latestly, Pixstory, Lokmat Times, The Federal, and Crictoday.
The case will now be heard on April 3.
