Nearly ten years after the case was filed, the Madras High Court has directed the start of the trial in MS Dhoni’s ₹100 crore defamation lawsuit, linked to allegations connecting him to the 2013 IPL betting scandal. An advocate commissioner has been appointed to record Dhoni’s testimony in Chennai between October 20 and December 10, 2025.
Details of MS Dhoni’s ₹100 Crore Defamation Lawsuit
The 2013 IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal saw several players found guilty and led to the suspension of two franchises — Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals — for two years due to betting activities by their officials. Although Dhoni, then captain of CSK and India, was never formally charged, his name surfaced in media reports and discussions, prompting him to file a defamation suit in 2014.
Dhoni filed the lawsuit against Zee Media Corporation, journalist Sudhir Chaudhary, retired IPS officer G. Sampath Kumar, and News Nation Network, demanding ₹100 crore in damages for allegedly defamatory claims linking him to the scandal without any proof.
Trial Arrangements and Court Orders
On August 11, 2025, Justice C.V. Karthikeyan ordered that MS Dhoni’s evidence be recorded by an advocate commissioner at a location agreed upon by the parties, rather than in an open court, to avoid delays.
Senior counsel P.R. Raman, representing Dhoni, emphasized the importance of speedy trial proceedings, stating,
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒚 (𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒊𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒅𝒆) 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒚 𝒂𝒅𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒊𝒕.” 𝑯𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅, “𝑰 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐-𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.”
The trial has faced setbacks over the years due to various procedural challenges and applications from different parties. Though MS Dhoni retired from international cricket in August 2020, he remains active in the IPL, playing for CSK.
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