In a legal development of significant gravity, the Supreme Court, on Monday, intervened to suspend a Madras High Court decree that had sentenced the retired Indian Police Services (IPS) luminary, Sampath Kumar, to a fifteen-day term in a case of contempt of court lodged by the illustrious cricketer, Mahendra Singh Dhoni [G Sampath Kumar vs Mahendra Singh Dhoni].
A bench presided over by the erudite Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan not only issued a notification regarding Kumar’s plea challenging the High Court’s pronouncement but also pondered over his petition for interim reprieve.
The narrative unfolded in December of the year 2023, when the Madras High Court, in response to a contempt of court plea filed by Dhoni, decreed a fifteen-day imprisonment for Kumar. This legal imbroglio stemmed from remarks proffered by Kumar against the judiciary, embedded within his written rejoinders to a defamation lawsuit initiated by Dhoni.
The genesis of this legal entanglement emanates from a substantial ₹100-crore defamation litigation instituted by Dhoni against multiple parties, including Kumar. The erstwhile skipper of the Indian Men’s Cricket Team lodged the defamation suit with the Madras High Court, pointing accusatory fingers at Zee Media, Kumar, and others for allegedly disseminating malicious statements and news articles insinuating Dhoni’s complicity in betting and match-fixing during the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches in 2013.
Dhoni, in his legal pursuit, sought an injunction against the defendants, which encompassed Kumar, the initial investigator of the IPL betting scandal, prohibiting them from disseminating defamatory content impugning his character in connection to the alleged misconduct.
Initially, the High Court granted a provisional injunction, restraining Zee, Kumar, and associates from making disparaging remarks about Dhoni. In response, Zee and others articulated their written defenses in opposition to the defamation allegations.
In the aftermath of these submissions, Dhoni, unsatisfied, filed an application contending that Kumar had persisted in making additional defamatory assertions within his written counter-arguments. Consequently, Dhoni beseeched the High Court to instigate contempt of court proceedings against Kumar.
During the legal proceedings, Dhoni expressed a willingness to forgo prosecuting Sampath Kumar for contempt if the latter issued an apology for his contentious remarks. Regrettably, Kumar staunchly refused to offer such amends, arguing that the contempt petition against him lacked merit.
Dhoni subsequently furnished copies of the impugned statements made by Sampath, both to the High Court and the Supreme Court. Upon scrutiny, the High Court adjudged these statements to be undeniably contemptuous, leading to the imposition of a fifteen-day prison term on the retired police officer. However, in a mitigating gesture, the court suspended the sentence for a duration of thirty days, affording Kumar an opportunity to file an appeal.
This appellate recourse found itself under the judicial lens of the Supreme Court today, effectively prolonging the suspension of Sampath Kumar’s sentence.