Lordship Justice Nakkiran, referencing the division bench’s observations, concluded that the review application filed by News Nation was “not at all maintainable.”

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Madras High Court Allows MS Dhoni To Interrogate TV Channels, Refutes To Review Order
Madras High Court allows MS Dhoni to interrogate TV Channels, refutes to review order
The Madras High Court has denied News Nation’s request to review an order allowing cricketer MS Dhoni to question the channel in his Rs 100 crore defamation suit related to IPL match-fixing allegations from 2014. This ruling progresses Dhoni’s legal pursuit for answers.
Madras HC stands firm: Dhoni Can Questions to TV Channels.
Madras High Court has firmly refused to review its previous order, allowing cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni to pose questions to the television channel News Nation as part of his ongoing Rs 100 crore defamation suit. The lawsuit, filed in 2014, targets News Nation, Zee Media, and retired IPS officer G Sampath Kumar for allegedly linking Dhoni to the Indian Premier League (IPL) match-fixing scandal.

Justice AA Nakkiran delivered the order on Friday, dismissing an application filed by News Nation seeking a review of the 2022 order. News Nation’s counsel argued that their previous lawyer had “inadvertently” given a no-objection to Dhoni’s request to serve interrogatories (a formal set of written questions) without proper instructions. They contended that allowing these interrogatories was an abuse of the legal process and intended solely to prolong the trial.

The channel’s current counsel further submitted that the nature of the interrogatories for each defendant in the suit differed and should be considered individually on their merits.

However, Dhoni’s legal team countered that a review of the order was only justifiable if there was a clear oversight, if the order’s soundness was undermined, or if it led to a miscarriage of justice. They cited a previous order from a division bench of the same court that had rejected a similar application from the respondents seeking to strike down the interrogatories.

Justice Nakkiran, referencing the division bench’s observations, concluded that the review application filed by News Nation was “not at all maintainable.” This decision reaffirms Dhoni’s legal right to seek specific answers from News Nation regarding the factual basis of their reporting in the defamation case. The ruling is likely to move the long-pending defamation suit closer to trial, with News Nation now obligated to respond to the interrogatories raised by the former Indian cricket captain.


TOPICS
MADRAS HIGH COURT
MS DHONI