CHENNAI: A retired IPS officer, G Sampath Kumar, who unearthed the IPL betting and match fixing racket 10 years ago, was sentenced to 15-day imprisonment by the Madras High Court in a contempt of court petition filed by cricketer MS Dhoni. The order was passed on Friday by a division bench of Justices SS Sundar and Sunder Mohan after they found him guilty of committing criminal contempt through certain contumacious statements.
The bench was “really surprised” to hear the allegations the officer made against the Supreme Court, High Court, and the counsels of Dhoni. “This court is prima facie convinced that the statements are contumacious and appears to have been made with an intention to scandalise and lower the authority of this court as well as the Supreme Court.”
The bench, in its order, stated, “To give out a statement against this court for granting interim order and describe it as an abuse of law are not fair. Similarly, accusing the apex court of failing to focus on the Rule of Law cannot be accepted as a fair expression of grievance of the party to the lawsuit. Maintaining dignity of courts is one of the cardinal principles of the Rule of Law. Any publication or speech undermining the dignity of the courts cannot be permitted, as held by the Supreme Court of India”
The court also noted that the respondent did not tender an apology or expressed regret when the counsel for the petitioner said they would give up if an apology is tendered. Holding the court is unable to appreciate any points made by the counsel for the officer, the bench said, the contempt is allowed and the court finds him “guilty of committing criminal contempt.”
“However, taking into consideration the credentials of the respondent, this court is restricting the punishment to simple imprisonment for a period of 15 days,” stated the order. The high court kept the sentence order suspended for 30 days exercising its powers under section 19 (3) of the Contempt of Courts Act, even though no request made by the respondent.