IPS officer sentenced jail for 15 days following former India captain MS Dhoni's complaint

The officer was jailed following CSK captain MS Dhoni’s contempt plea.

The Madras High Court on Friday, December 15, 2023, sentenced IPS officer G. Sampath Kumar to 15 days of simple imprisonment with respect to a contempt of court petition filed by former India captain MS Dhoni against the officer for making unsavory remarks against the Supreme Court as well as the High Court.

However, Justices S.S. Sundar and Sunder Mohan delayed the punishment for 30 days to allow the defendant to file an appeal with the Supreme Court. The suspension was ordered by the court on its own initiative, despite the fact that the contemnor had not made any such petition.

MS Dhoni had urged the court to punish Mr. Kumar for his remarks against the judiciary in his written statement filed through senior counsel P.R. Raman. This was in response to the ₹100 crore defamation suit filed against the IPS officer by the cricketer in 2014 for having named him in the Indian Premier League (IPL) betting scam.

After concluding that the IPS officer’s remarks in the written statement amounted to scandalizing court proceedings, Advocate General R. Shunmugasundaram granted the cricketer permission to file the criminal contempt of court petition, as required by the Contempt of Courts Act.

Sampath Kumar had unearthed the IPL 2013 betting scam as Superintendent of Police, Q Branch of Tamil Nadu Police

MS Dhoni further mentioned in his appeal that the extra written declaration by the Police officer ‘scandalizes’ and ‘lowers’ the authority of the Supreme Court and the High Court. Dhoni claimed that the officer remarked that the Supreme Court departed from its focus on the rule of law and shelved the deposition held in a special sealed cover for reasons that he could not fathom.

Furthermore, he had stated that it was unfortunate that the Supreme Court, for reasons best known to it, opted to keep a portion of the Justice Mudgal Committee’s findings in a sealed cover, which required investigation by an SIT.

He sought the court to punish the Police officer as per the permission granted by the Advocate General (AG) under section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.

While investigating other allegations, Sampath Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Q Branch, Tamil Nadu Police, discovered the IPL betting racket in 2013. Later, the investigation was turned over to the CB-CID, and the Police’s bombshell disclosures about match-fixing by specific players stunned the nation, particularly cricket fans.

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