Madras High Court Sentences IPS Officer to 15 Days in Contempt Case Filed by Dhoni
Madras High Court Sentences IPS Officer to 15 Days in Contempt Case Filed by Dhoni
IPS officer G Sampath Kumar has been sentenced to 15 days of simple imprisonment by the Madras High Court for contempt of court. The contempt proceedings were initiated based on a petition filed by former Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who accused Kumar of making derogatory remarks against both the Supreme Court and the Madras High Court.
The bench, comprising Justices S S Sundar and Sunder Mohan, has, however, temporarily suspended the sentence for a period of 30 days. This suspension allows Kumar the opportunity to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
The origins of the case trace back to 2014 when Dhoni filed a defamation suit amounting to Rs 100 crore against Kumar. Kumar had previously been involved in handling the 2013 IPL betting case. Dhoni’s defamation suit was a response to allegations made by Kumar, which implicated Dhoni in the said scandal.
Kumar, in a written statement, had accused the SC of deviating from the rule of law, and had questioned the handling of the Justice Mudgal Committee report, which was established to investigate the 2013 match fixing allegations. He had also alleged that the SC had motives in withholding certain documents from the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Dhoni, in his petition, had highlighted these statements as scandalous and contumacious, directly attacking the integrity of the judicial system. The petition, filed through senior counsel P R Raman, urged the court to take strict action against Kumar for his remarks. The Advocate General of Tamil Nadu, R Shunmugasundaram, after reviewing the case, granted permission to Dhoni to move the criminal contempt of court petition.
