Zee Media given 10 days by Madras High Court to respond to the defamation case against them by MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni had filed cases against Zee and other parties for image defamation in IPL match-fixing saga.

Madras High Court has given Zee Media 10 days to respond to interrogatories served by former cricketer MS Dhoni in connection with a defamation claim after they denied their request to have the same struck out.

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.

Justices R. Mahadevan and Mohammed Shaffiq, who made up the majority of the bench, agreed with the lone judge's explicit finding that the written response lacked the necessary detail and substantial facts to respond to the interrogatories.

In addition, ZeeMedia gave no justification for overturning the disputed judgment.

Interrogatories must unavoidably be answered by Zee Media, says Madras High Court

Zee filed an appeal in reaction to the judge's decision not to throw out Dhoni's 17 interrogatories, which are a list of inquiries that must be addressed in light of the circumstances of the case.

Zee Media's written declaration was found to be unacceptable by a single judge in 2022, and the former Indian captain was given permission to conduct the interrogations.

In addition, Zee Media gave no justification for overturning the disputed judgment.

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."

"In light of the foregoing, this original side appeal is dismissed," the panel concluded.