Inform MS Dhoni via phone, email that he has been sued for defamation: Delhi High Court to registry

The Delhi High Court on Thursday said that it would be appropriate that cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni is informed of the defamation suit filed against him before the Court hears the case [Mihir Diwakar & Anr v Mahendra Singh Dhoni & Ors]..Justice Prathiba M Singh directed the Court's registry as well as the plaintiff Mihir Diwakar to intimate the former Indian men's cricket team captain about the case and posted the matter for hearing on January 29. Diwakar and his wife Soumya Das (plaintiffs) have approached the High Court to restrain Dhoni and people acting on his behalf from making defamatory allegations against them in relation to an alleged breach of a 2017 contract.The contract was entered into between Dhoni and Aarka Sports Management, a company owned by the plaintiffs. The contract was for establishing cricket academies in India and globally..When the matter came up before Justice Singh on Tuesday, Diwakar's lawyer said that Dhoni's counsel had held a press conference outside Ranchi court and levelled defamatory allegations against him and his wife. However, at the outset, the Court said that before it goes into the allegations and the issue of whether such a suit is maintainable, it is appropriate that an intimation be given to Dhoni that a defamation suit has been filed against him.Justice Singh, therefore, ordered that Dhoni be intimated through e-mail and phone as well as through the law firm representing him in Ranchi court..Meanwhile, advocate Siddhant Kumar appeared for media outlet ANI (one of the many news platforms arraigned as defendants in the case) and said that the suit against it is not maintainable. ANI merely published the criminal proceedings pending before the Ranchi court against Diwakar, the counsel told the Court..The Court eventually proceeded to adjourn the case till January 29. .According to the suit, Dhoni and people acting on his behalf made defamatory allegations against Diwakar and Das that they had duped Dhoni of nearly ₹15 crores by not honouring a contract to establish cricket academies.Diwakar, a former cricketer himself who represented India at the Under-19 World Cup in 2000, said that even before a court could give any substantive finding on the issue, Dhoni's lawyer Dayanand Sharma conducted a press conference on January 6, 2024, making allegations against Diwakar and Das..These allegations were widely reported in the media which tarnished the image of the plaintiffs, the suit said.Therefore, it was prayed that a direction be issued to restrain Dhoni and people acting on his behalf from making any defamatory allegations against the plaintiffs.The plaintiffs have also sought directions to X (formerly Twitter) as well Google, YouTube, Meta (Facebook) and a host of news platforms to take down the allegedly defamatory articles/posts against Diwakar and Das..Dhoni had earlier filed a criminal case in Ranchi against Diwakar and Das for alleged violation of the contract signed in 2017 for running cricket academies and sports complexes globally under the names ‘MS Dhoni Cricket Academy’, ‘MS Dhoni Sports Academy’ or ‘MS Dhoni Sports Complex’The criminal complaint was filed for offences under Section 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (Using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Ranchi District Court.Dhoni alleged that even after he revoked his letter of authorisation, Diwakar and Das opened many cricket academies under the names mentioned in the contract.