Chennai, In a significant development, the Madras High Court has handed a 15-day imprisonment sentence to retired IPS officer G Sampath Kumar on a contempt petition filed by former Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The court, comprising Justices SS Sundar and Sunder Mohan, has, however, suspended the jail term for 30 days, allowing Kumar to appeal against the verdict.
Dhoni, who initially filed a ₹100 crore defamation suit against Kumar in 2014, accused the former CID department officer of leveling match-fixing allegations during the 2013 IPL betting case. The cricketer later filed a contempt petition citing disparaging remarks made by Kumar against the Supreme Court and the Madras High Court.
Sampath Kumar, who conducted the initial probe in the IPL betting case, was later suspended amid bribery allegations. Despite being cleared of the charges in 2019, he maintains that he was framed to impede the investigation.
