Defamation case filed against MS Dhoni by former business partners who defrauded them of Rs 15 crore

Two former business partners of former Indian men’s cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni have filed a defamation case against him in the Delhi High Court. MS Dhoni had earlier filed a criminal case against these two for fraud of Rs 15 crore.

according to a PTI According to the report, the defamation case was filed by Dhoni’s former business partner Mihir Diwakar and his wife Soumya Das, who is the director of a sports management company ‘Arka Sports’, in which Dhoni is accused of defaming several social media platforms and media houses. A permanent injunction and damages were sought against him.

In the petition, the couple has sought to restrain the cricketer from causing harm to their reputation in connection with “false allegations” allegedly made by Dhoni regarding alleged illegal gains of Rs 15 crore.

Dhoni had filed a case against the couple in the lower court in Ranchi.

According to Dhoni’s lawyer Dayanand Singh, in 2017, two accused had approached Dhoni to establish cricket academies in India and abroad in his name.

As per the agreement, Dhoni was to receive the entire franchise fee and the profits were to be shared between the cricketer and the partners on a 70:30 basis.

However, later the accused started setting up academies without informing the cricketer and did not make any payment to them, Singh said.

Dhoni sent several legal notices to the accused but to no avail.

“MS Dhoni revoked his authority on August 15, 2021. Despite this, they continued to set up academies at about eight to ten locations… We served them legal notices twice for violating the norms of the agreement. They defrauded MS Dhoni of over Rs 15 crore,” the lawyer said, reported Hindustan Times,

The criminal case was registered on October 27 last year under sections 406 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

(with PTI inputs)