Sampath Kumar, an IPS officer, was recently sentenced to 15 days in jail by the Madras High Court for his audacious allegation that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni was involved in the infamous 2013 IPL spot-fixing scam.
Not one to take accusations like these lightly, the illustrious former captain of India promptly filed a plea refuting the officer’s claim. Justice has now been done, as the court sentenced Kumar to prison and ruled in favour of Dhoni. But there’s more! Kumar is now able to file a second appeal in the case since the panel of Justices SS Sundar and Sunder Mohan has postponed the sentence for 30 days.
Prior to this, MS Dhoni had launched legal action against a well-known Indian news station.
Dhoni has already been embroiled in legal disputes pertaining to the spot-fixing controversy. He had already launched a lawsuit against a well-known Indian news station for disparaging him in relation to the scandal that rocked Indian cricket ten years prior.
S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandela, and Ankeet Chavan, three Rajasthan Royals players, were charged for rigging cricket matches in return for cash from bookmakers. The case ultimately made its way to the Supreme Court after the BCCI permanently banned the player after he was detained by the Delhi police. Even though the three were found guilty by the highest tribunal, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was left to decide how long the punishment should be.
The proprietors of the Royals club and Gurunath Meiyappan, the son of former BCCI supremo and co-owner of CSK N Srinivasan, were linked to illicit betting operations in a case that was unrelated to the same scam. Due to the two-year suspension that followed, neither franchise was able to participate in the 2016 or 2017 IPL seasons.
It will be fascinating to track this case’s developments going forward. As MSD prepares to lead CSK for another season, supporters everywhere are looking forward to seeing him in action once more.