New Delhi: Team India's ODI and T20 skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni today moved to Supreme Court over the controversy regarding him being portrayed as Lord Vishnu.
MS Dhoni today filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) against Karnataka High Court decision after the High Court denied to remove criminal proceedings against him at Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court in Bengaluru.
The Supreme Court have announced September 14 as the official hearing date for the case. The case will be heard by a bench of Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice RK Agarwal.
The controversy started after a renowned Business magazine depicted Dhoni as Lord Vishnu holding various products. The incident occurred in 2013 and Dhoni was reported to be unhappy with the picture and expressed his displeasure over it.
The High Court had last month observed: “A celebrity and a cricketer like Dhoni should know the consequences of hurting religious sentiments of people. He should have known the consequences of doing such ads.”
The complaint, filed by social activist Jayakumar Hiremath, had alleged that Dhoni was seen on the cover of a business magazine as Lord Vishnu, holding several things, including a shoe in his hands.
The High Court had said, “These celebrities are only signing ads without any responsibility. Their aim is to earn easy money without considering the problems it may create.”
Taking cognisance of the complaint filed by Hiremath, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) had registered a case against Dhoni under section 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) along with 34 of the IPC.
Later, the ACMM had issued summons to Dhoni to appear before the court, which he did not and instead moved the High Court against its direction.
(With inputs from PTI)
