BANGALORE: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday appointed Justice R Gururajan, retired judge of the Karnataka HC, as the arbitrator to resolve a dispute between MS Dhoni, captain of the Indian cricket team, and Karnataka Soaps and Detergent Limited (KSDL) on an advertisement contract.
Allowing the petition filed by KSDL, Justice SA Nazir appointed Gururajan. Dhoni has been charged with breach of contract. According to KSDL, Dhoni has not been present in advertising shoots to promote it’s products.
On January 3, 2006, KSDL had made an agreement with Dhoni to promote Mysore Sandal Soap, a KSDL product.
According to the contract terms, Dhoni was to act as Brand Ambassador of Mysore Sandal Soap for two years. Dhoni had agreed to make himself available for five days of shooting over two years. However, he made himself available for only two commercial shoots for KSDL.
The contract was for Rs 70 lakhs and KSDL has already paid Rs 40 lakh to Dhoni.
After Dhoni failed to appear for shooting, KSDL issued a legal notice on December 20, 2007 and sought Rs. 40 lakh compensation from the cricketer for not honouring provisions in the contract.