With former Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni filing a contempt of court petition against IPS officer Sampath Kumar, Madras High Court took a swift action against the latter. The court, on Friday, sanctioned Sampath Kumar to 15 days of imprisonment, according to Bar and Bench.com.
The case relates to Zee Media, Kumar, and others for allegedly making claims of Dhoni involved in the betting and match-fixing saga during the 2013 edition of the Indian Premier League. Nevertheless, bench of Justices SS Sundar and Sunder Mohan have suspended the sentence for 30 days, allowing Kumar to lodge an appeal.
What was the scandal CSK was embroiled in during IPL 2013?
The BCCI faced a major setback during IPL 2013 as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals came under the spotlight. Former CSK principal owner Gurunath Meiyappan was accused of betting on IPL matches and sharing confidential information. However, the Royals were the hardest hit as Ankeet Chavan, Ajit Chandila, and Sreesanth received lengthy bans for their roles in spot-fixing.
Nevertheless, the management's alleged role in spot-fixing resulted in the Super Kings' ban for 2 years and Dhoni recalled in an interview that it was the toughest phase of his life.
Nevertheless, the 42-year-old filed a defamation suit before the High Court against Zee Media, Kumar and many others for allegedly naming Dhoni in the scandal. Dhoni had reportedly also obtained a restraining order against the media houses and Kumar, who was investigating the matter, from making any malicious statements against him regarding the issue.
Zee and others hit back in response to the defamation suit. After the written statements, the CSK captain lodged another application saying that Kumar made further defamatory statements, resulting in contempt of court petition.
Advocate PR Raman had represented Dhoni.
