The Delhi High Court in the case Mihir Diwakar and Anr. v. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ors observed and has filed the defamation suit filed against cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni by his former business partner Mihir Diwakar.
The bench headed by Justice Prathiba M Singh in the case observed and has directed that intimation of filing of the suit be given to Dhoni as well as the law firm representing him.
In the present case, the suit is filed by Diwakar and his wife to restrain Dhoni from publishing defamatory and malicious statements against them alleging that the duo illegally gained Rs.15 crores from the cricketer.
The said suit has been filed against Meta, X (formerly Twitter), Google, YouTube and 30 media houses and web portals.
It has also been claimed by Diwakars that the allegations made against them by Dhoni are without any basis, wild, false, baseless, vindictive, malicious, and unfounded. Thus, they are also aggrieved by a press conference held by Dhoni’s lawyer on January 06 where the said allegations were presented before the media.
It has also been submitted in the suit that the same was done with an intention to cause irreparable and grave injury to them.
Therefore, the criminal complaint has also been filed by Dhoni against Diwakar which is pending in a court in Ranchi.
The counsel representing Diwakars submitted before the court that an injunction order can be passed even in cases which are sub judice before court.
On the other hand, the counsel, Advocate Siddhant Kumar, ANI’s submitted before the court that the suit is not maintainable as per the decision of a coordinate bench in the case Veer Arjun Newspaper Pvt. Ltd. v. Bahori Lal & Ors.
It has also been submitted by him that the media house is fully protected under the exception to Section 499 of Indian Penal Code, 1860, as the reporting merely covered the proceedings pending in the criminal case before Ranchi court.
The court observed that an Authorization letter was issued in favour of Diwakar’s company, Aarka Sports Management Authority Pvt Ltd, for MS Dhoni Cricket Academy in pursuance of a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a chain of cricket academies and sports complexes in 2017.
The court revoked the said letter vide an email by an unknown third part in August 2021 as per the suit.
Further, the suit stated that till date, no official letter of revocation of has been received by Diwakar and thus, the email cannot be understood a legal and valid revocation in law.
Accordingly, the court listed the matter for further consideration on January 29, 2024.