Justice R.N. Manjula said only the plaintiff would have to bear the costs of transcription and translation of the materials, especially when the High Court’s Interpreter had reported that it was a humongous task which would take about three to four months even if one interpreter and a typist were deployed for the work exclusively. The Interpreter Section also assessed the cost at Rs. 10 lakh.
Hence, the judge directed the cricketer to deposit Rs. 10 lakh with the Chief Justice’s Relief Fund on or before March 12, 2026, so that the 12-year-old defamation suit, which had been delayed due to multiple interim litigations, could proceed further. The suit had been filed against Zee Media Corporation, journalist Sudhir Chaudhary, retired IPS officer G. Sampath Kumar and News Nation Network.
12-year delay in trial
However, the trial in the suit had been delayed for over 12 years because of multiple applications by the parties seeking one relief or another.
In December 2023, a Division Bench of Justices S.S. Sundar (since retired) and Sunder Mohan had convicted the retired IPS officer of criminal contempt of court and sentenced him to 15 days of simple imprisonment. However, the Supreme Court stayed the punishment in 2024.
Dhoni had filed the contempt plea against the retired IPS officer for having made contumacious remarks against the Supreme Court and the High Court while defending the defamation suit. In July 2022, the then Advocate General R. Shunmugasundaram granted permission to the cricketer to proceed with the contempt plea after being satisfied that the remarks made by Kumar, in his written statement to the suit, amounted to scandalising court proceedings.
Finally, on August 11, 2025, Justice C.V. Karthikeyan ordered commencement of the trial and appointed an advocate commissioner to record Dhoni’s evidence at a mutually convenient premises since it was felt that insisting upon the cricketer’s personal appearance before the Master’s Court located inside the High Court premises, for examination as well as cross-examination, might lead to chaos due to him being a celebrity.
Sampath Kumar took this order too on appeal before a Division Bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and Mohammed Shaffiq, who dismissed the appeal in November 2025 after observing that the presence of the cricketer in the High Court would require elaborate security arrangements and hence there was nothing wrong in having appointed an advocate commissioner to record his evidence elsewhere.
Published on Feb 12, 2026
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