NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday posted the hearing of a defamation suit filed against former Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni by his former business partner to January 29 and asked the plaintiffs to file court fees within a week.
Justice Prathiba M Singh was dealing with the defamation case filed by Dhoni's former business partners Mihir Diwakar and his wife Soumya Das who were seeking a permanent injunction and damages against Dhoni and others.
The duo also sought to restrain several social media platforms including Google, YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), Meta and other media houses from making, publishing, and circulating per se defamatory, ex-facie false and malicious statements against them.
"It is deemed appropriate to direct intimation to defendant no. 1 (Dhoni) of filing of the present suit. Let the registry issue an email to defendant no. 1 at the email address. The intimation be also given at the law firm representing him," the court said.
They also submitted that an injunction order could be passed even in cases that are sub judice before the court.
Notably, a criminal case was also filed by Dhoni against Diwakars in a lower court in Ranchi against two directors of Aarka Sports, a sports management company under Section 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.
As per Diwakars' suit in the high court, the defendants (Dhoni and others) be restrained from damaging the reputation of the plaintiffs for the false allegations allegedly made by them relating to purported illegal gains of Rs 15 crores from him and breach of a 2017 contract.
