Court refuses to reject MSD’s case against IPS officer

Chennai: Seven years after cricket star M S Dhoni slapped a 100-crore defamation suit on an

IPS

officer, G

Sampath Kumar

, for having made match-fixing allegations, the Madras high court has refused to reject Dhoni’s case.Justice

N Seshasayee

, dismissing Sampath Kumar’s plea to ‘reject the plaint’ in connection with the 2014 IPL betting and match fixing scam, said such a relief could not be granted at this point when the trial is about to commence.The court then granted liberty to the IPS officer to move an application for filing an additional written statement and adjourned the hearing to December 15.Dhoni moved the suit against Sampath Kumar and

Zee Media

Corporation suggesting his role in the scam without any basis.On Thursday, Sampath Kumar argued that he could not be made to face the defamation for deposition made in his official capacity before the committee appointed to probe the scam as the investigating officer of the scam while he was a superintendent of police (SP) of the Q Branch. However, the judge refused to accept the contention.In 2014, Zee Media responded to the suit and said it only reported the deposition of Sampath Kumar made to the Mudgal Committee appointed to probe the scam. It said Dhoni was attempting to gag the media from discussing an issue of national and public importance.
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