Chennai: The Madras High Court refused to dismiss Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Rs 100-crore defamation suit filed against police officer G Sampath Kumar for linking the former Team India captain and Chennai Super Kings skipper to allegations of betting and match fixing in IPL seven years ago.
The IPS officer had filed a petition seeking rejection of Dhoni’s plaint.
Dismissing the plea, Justice N. Seshasayee said that the present application was aimed at sabotaging the commencement of trial by examining the witnesses, hence such a relief couldn’t be granted at this juncture.
The court said the police officer could move an application for filing an additional written statement. The next hearing in the case has been set for December 15.
Dhoni had filed the defamation suit against Sampath Kumar and Zee Media Corporation for linking his role in the scam without any basis.
Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were banned from IPL for two years in the betting and match-fixing scandal before being reinducted into the T20 league in 2018.
