"Set out specific allegations": Delhi HC to MS Dhoni's ex-business partner in defamation case against Dhoni and others

NEW DELHI: Hearing a defamation matter against former team India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and others, the Delhi High Court today directed the plaintiffs (Dhoni's former business partners) to set out specific allegations against each defendant. 

The Court has listed the matter for hearing next on April 3.

Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni told the Delhi High Court today that the defamation suit filed against him for Rs. 15 crores damages is not maintainable. He argued that he has merely filed a case against Diwakar in a Ranchi court. 

The suit has been filed against Meta, X (formerly Twitter), Google, YouTube and 30 media houses and web portals. Dhoni's counsel appeared before Justice Prathiba M Singh and submitted that the suit was not maintainable against his client and that the cricketer had merely filed a case against Diwakar in Ranchi. 

News agency ANI, on the other hand argued that specific allegations had not been set out in the plaint, therefore, the same was not maintainable. 

However, Diwakar argued that media reporting on the matter had caused damage to his reputation as they had already labelled him a thug and thief.

Earlier, the Court had directed for intimation of the said suit to be given to Dhoni and the law firm representing him while scheduling it for hearing on Jan 29.

While the Diwakars had argued before Court that an injunction order can be passed even in cases which are sub judice (pending before the Court) before a court, Adv. Siddhant Kumar, representing news agency ANI, 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 in the pending criminal case before the Ranchi Court.

Brief facts

Filed by Diwakar and his wife Soumya Das, the suit seeks a permanent injunction and damages against Dhoni, various social media platforms such as Meta, X (formerly Twitter), Google, YouTube and 30 media houses and web portals. 

The duo alleged that Dhoni has published defamatory and malicious statements against them on social media and in a press conference, alleging that they illegally gained Rs. 15 crores from the cricketer.

Besides the suit wherein they claim that the allegations by Dhoni are “wild, false, baseless, vindictive, malicious and unfounded,” they have also filed a criminal complaint against Dhoni which is pending adjudication in a court in Ranchi.

In 2017, an authorization letter was allegedly 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 (MoU) 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 couple claim that till date, no official letter of revocation has been received by Diwakar and thus, the email cannot be understood as a legal and valid revocation in law. 

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