Delhi High Court To Hear Defamation Suit Against MS Dhoni By Former Business Partner Mihir Diwakar On January 29

The Delhi High Court will hear on January 29 a defamation suit filed against cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni by his former business partner Mihir Diwakar.

Justice Prathiba M Singh directed that intimation of filing of the suit be given to Dhoni as well as the law firm representing him.

Diwakar and his wife have filed the suit to restrain Dhoni from publishing defamatory and malicious statements against them alleging that the duo illegally gained Rs.15 crores from the cricketer.

The suit has been filed against Meta, X (formerly Twitter), Google, YouTube and 30 media houses and web portals.

Diwakars claim that the allegations made against them by Dhoni are without any basis, “wild, false, baseless, vindictive, malicious and unfounded.” 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. The suit submits that the same was done with an intention to cause irreparable and grave injury to them.

A criminal complaint has also been filed by Dhoni against Diwakar which is pending in a court in Ranchi.

During the hearing today, the counsel representing Diwakars submitted that an injunction order can be passed even in cases which are sub judice before court.

On the other hand, Advocate Siddhant Kumar, ANI's counsel, submitted that the suit is not maintainable as per the decision of a coordinate bench in Veer Arjun Newspaper Pvt. Ltd. v. Bahori Lal & Ors. (2013).

He also submitted 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.

In 2017, 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In August 2021, the said letter was revoked vide an email by an unknown third party, as per the suit.

The suit further states 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.

Title: Mihir Diwakar & Anr. v. Mahendra Singh Dhoni & Ors.