New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India stayed a Madras High Court verdict, which sent retired IPS officer G Sampath Kumar to jail for 15 days after finding him guilty in the contempt of court case filed by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan stayed the order and also issued a notice to Dhoni challenging the order delivered by the High Court. The Apex Court of India passed an interim order suspending Kumar’s sentence regarding an investigation into the match-fixing scandal in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
G Sampath Kumar was found guilty in December 2023 and was given a prison term of 15 days. However, he was given 30 days to appeal against the verdict.
Dhoni had filed a Rs 100 crore defamation case against Kumar, who was with the CID department of Tamil Nadu Police. He accused Dhoni of being involved in match-fixing.
Dhoni also filed a contempt petition against the officer, claiming that Kumar had made damaging remarks against the Supreme Court and the Madras High Court.
Kumar was given the charge of investigating the match-fixing scandal in 2013 but was later suspended following allegations that he took money from the bookies to free them of the charges.
In 2019, Kumar was left off the hook by the trial court after failing to find evidence against him. He maintained that he was being framed to save the big fish as he was about to unearth the scam.
Dhoni will lead CSK in IPL 2024, and this could probably be his last season, considering his fitness issues. He played with an injured knee in the previous edition but managed to lead the team to their fifth title.
Mahi went under the knife after the end of the season and recently started practicing for IPL 2024.