Former India captain MS Dhoni who led the team until their last CPI Silverware in 2013 is facing a big dilemma as two of its former business partners have reportedly filed a defamation suit against it in the Delhi High Court. This development comes weeks after Dhoni himself accused them of fraud worth between Rs 15 and 16 million for dishonoring a contract they signed in 2016.
It all started after MS Dhoni took strict action against Aarka’s sports management director Mihir Diwakar for incurring losses of over Rs 10 crore. Dhoni had signed an agreement with the company to open an undisclosed number of cricket academies around the world in his name, which never materialized.
Responding to Dhoni’s allegations, Mihir Diwakar claimed that it was the former Indian captain’s fault as he himself received money from various academies and never shared the percentage with the sports management company. Diwakar also claimed that Dhoni was trying to cover up his malicious activities such as criminal conspiracies and frauds and that it was a way to defame Diwakar’s name in the sports industry.
And weeks after the latest development, Mihir Diwakar and his wife Soumya Das filed a defamation case against MS Dhoni in the Delhi High Court and the case will come up for hearing tomorrow (January 18) before Justice Pratibha M Singh.
The husband and wife have pleaded with the High Court to stop MS Dhoni and his team from spreading rumors on social media platforms, creating false reports and derogatory statements against them.
While Dhoni’s legal team took the cricket academy matter to a Ranchi court, Diwakar’s entourage headed to the doors of the high court in the national capital. MSD’s attorney filed cases under section 406 which refers to criminal offense and section 420 which refers to cheating or fraud.
It happened after the management of Aarka Sports breached the clauses mentioned in the contract. And to his response, this is what Mihir Diwakar stated through X, “I clarify that I do not have outstanding dues from MSD with me, rather MSD has to pay certain amounts that have been collected from the academies directly by MS Dhoni.. By dint of my hard work, I established, materialized and expanded the work that had him pressed, and MSD, being a big name, is trying to strangle me, my business and my social integrity.”
Amid legal tensions, will MS Dhoni feature for CSK in IPL 2024?
The biggest question that arises right now is whether MS Dhoni will be able to feature among the reigning IPL champions. Chennai Super Kings in the next edition. In what could again be his last season in the richest cricket league, it will be interesting to see if Dhoni’s tensions and legal problems have any impact on the field.
The 2007 and 2011 World Cup-winning captain has reportedly started training for the new IPL season and CSK also did very well in the mini-player auction that took place last month. The defamation case against MS Dhoni will be tried for the first time tomorrow in the Delhi High Court and its results are yet to be seen.