MS Dhoni-Zee defamation case: Madras HC gives Zee Media 10 days to respond on allegation made on match-fixing

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The Madras High Court's division bench denied Zee Media Corporation's appeal, which sought to have the interrogatories served by former cricketer MS Dhoni in connection with a defamation claim struck out, and ordered the news media outlet to reply to the interrogatories within 10 days, reported New Indian Express.

In response to a judge's decision not to dismiss MS Dhoni's 17 interrogatories, which are a series of questions that must be answered based on the facts of the case, Zee Media filed an appeal. A solo court ruled in 2022 that Zee Media's written declaration was unsatisfactory, and the former Indian captain was granted authorisation to conduct the interrogations.

MS Dhoni filed a defamation action against Zee Media, IPS officer G Sampath Kumar, and a journalist in 2014, demanding Rs 100 crore in damages for tarnishing his character by linking him to an IPL match-fixing event.

The majority of the bench, Justices R Mahadevan and Mohammed Shaffiq, concurred with the sole judge's particular determination that the written response lacked the required specificity and substantial facts to answer the interrogatories.

Furthermore, Zee Media presented no explanation for reversing the contested ruling. According to the Judges' ruling announced on Thursday, "In such a situation, interrogatories must unavoidably be answered by the appellant (Zee Media)."

The Bench stated that the single judge's ruling must be interpreted in light of CPC Rule 7, which "allows an adversary to file an application to strike out the interrogatory if it is unreasonable, vexatious or prolix, oppressive, unnecessary, or scandalous". This was in response to Zee Media's request to have the interrogatories dismissed.

"In light of the foregoing, this original side appeal is dismissed," the panel concluded. The appellant must answer the interrogatories within 10 days.