Madras high court asks Dhoni to pay Rs 10 lakh for CD transcription in defamation suit

CHENNAI: Madras high court directed cricketer M S Dhoni to deposit Rs 10 lakh towards the expenses for transcription of contents provided in a CD as evidence in a Rs 100 crore defamation plea moved by him against several media houses and former IPS officer G Sampath Kumar. Dhoni moved the defamation suit against the IPS officer and others for linking his name to the 2013 IPL betting scam.

In Oct 2025, Dhoni moved an application seeking transcripts of three CDs submitted in the defamation suit filed in 2014 against Zee Media, Sudhir Chaudhary (head of Zee Media), News Nation and former IPS officer Sampath Kumar. He claimed that the copies of the CD available with him were corrupted and the contents could not be retrieved. Therefore, he sought the transcript copies of the CDs available with the court.


On Wednesday, when the plea came up for hearing, Justice R N Manjula said: “It is learnt from the interpreter that it is a humongous task, and it takes much time and energy of at least one interpreter and a typist for nearly three to four months to complete the transcription.”

Since the entire time of one interpreter and a typist is required, apart from the additional cost involved in preparing the copies, the charges for transcription and translation are fixed at Rs 10 lakh, which is payable by the plaintiff, the court said.

“In normal circumstances and in a suit filed by the plaintiff, it is the plaintiff who must do such work and file the documents along with his plaint. As the engagement of an official interpreter is needed in view of the extraneous circumstances, it is obligatory on the part of the plaintiff to pay the cost of the job done,” the judge said.

The court then directed the authorities to complete the transcription within the third week of March. The cost of Rs 10 lakh should be paid by the plaintiff to the account of Chief Justice Relief Fund, Madras high court, on or before March 12, the court added.