On a contempt petition filed by former captain of Indian cricket team Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Madras High Court on Friday sentenced retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer G Sampath Kumar to 15 days imprisonment.
The court however kept the sentence in abeyance for 30 days to enable the officer to appeal against the verdict.
The Background
Former Indian cricket team captain, Dhoni who is also the captain of the Chennai Super Kings, had initially filed a Rs 100 crore defamation suit against Sampath Kumar, who was serving with the CID department of Tamil Nadu Police, and a television channel Zee Media in 2014 for levelling match-fixing allegations against him in the Indian Premier League (IPL) betting case.
Dhoni later filed a contempt petition against Sampat Kumar who allegedly made derogatory remarks on Supreme Court and High Court. He contended that the remarks on Courts will shake the trust and faith of common man.
According to Live Law, Sampat had allegedly stated that the Supreme Court chose to keep certain portions of the Report of Justice Mudgal Committee (formed to independently enquire into the match-fixing in 2013 IPL) in a sealed cover and did not provide the same to the Special Investigation Team.
Dhoni said that Sampath imputed that the Supreme Court “has a motive” in not providing the sealed cover.
It is further alleged that Sampath disrespected and scandalised the Madras High Court, and made accusations against the office of Advocate General and designated Senior Counsels of the Madras High Court.
The IPL betting investigation
G Sampath Kumar, a 1997 batch IPs of Tamil Nadu cadre had initially probed the 2013 IPL betting case. However, he was suspended on counter allegation that he took bribes from bookies to let them off. Later he was cleared from all the accusations and reinstated in the service. He retired in May this year. He maintains a that he had fallen prey to conspiracy so that he doesn't unearth the dirty IPl betting scam.
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