Lawyer denies
Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni has landed himself into trouble after a non-bailable warrant issued against him by a local court in Anantapur for appearing as Lord Vishnu in the cover of a business magazine for hurting religious sentiments of Hindus. Dhoni’s morphed picture was published on the cover of Business Today magazine (God of Big Deals) in April 2013. He has been asked to appear before the court on 25th February.
The court had in June 2014 issued bailable warrants summoning Dhoni and the magazine editor Chaitanya Kalbag. Business Today was later represented by its advocate in the court.
In 2015, the case shifted to the court of the additional judicial first class magi-strate which issued fresh summons in November to Kalbag and Dhoni, said Gopal Rao, the advocate representing Shyamsundar.
“While it is unknown if Kalbag received the summons, an acknowledgment was received from Dhoni. Since he did not appear before the court even after summoned, the court took serious view and has issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Dhoni,” Rao said.
Earlier Shyam Sunder, a local VHP leader had filed a petition against Dhoni and the news magazine in the district court. In reply, the High Court had said, “These celebrities are only signing ads without any responsibility. Their aim is to earn easy money without considering the problems it may create.”
Mahendra Singh Dhoni never received summons from a local court in Andhra Pradesh that he has been accused of ignoring, his lawyer Rajneesh Chopra said insisting that the Non Bailable Warrant issued against the Indian cricket captain was “erroneous”.
“Dhoni has utmost respect for the judiciary but the fact of the matter is that he has personally never received any summons with respect to the present case; therefore the order appears to be erroneous,” Dhoni’s lawyer Chopra said in a statement issued by Rhiti Sports, the company managing Dhoni.
“Even as such, proceedings in a similar matter pending before the Hon’ble District Court of Bengaluru, Karnataka has already been stayed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. In this matter, accordingly we will approach the courts and seek appropriate directions thereto,” he added.
Dhoni will be in Australia until January 31 for an ODI and T20I series, after which India are scheduled to host Sri Lanka for three T20s and also travel to Bangladesh for Asia Cup T20.
