Dhoni in hot water for denigrating Hindu god

Dhoni in hot water for denigrating Hindu god: The Karnataka High Court was today critical of India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in a case filed against him for allegedly “denigrating” a Hindu God. MS Dhoni was, last year, seen on the cover of a business magazine as Lord Vishnu, holding several things, including a shoe in his hands.

“A celebrity and a cricketer like Dhoni should know the consequences of hurting the religious sentiments of people. He should have known the consequences of doing such ads,” Justice AN Venugopal Gowda said in his oral observation. The court was critical of the tendency of celebrities signing ads just for money without giving a thought to the consequences.

During the hearing, Justice Gowda was pretty direct in his criticism of the Indian ODI captain. Dhoni’s lawyer refuted the claims made by the opposition by stating that the 34-year-old cricketer has not taken any money for the advertisement. In response, Justice Gowda directed Dhoni to file an affidavit declaring that he had not taken money for appearing on the cover page of the magazine. Further proceedings are scheduled for August 17.

The case relates to a picture on the cover of an Indian magazine Business Today which carried a picture of Dhoni portrayed as the Hindu god ‘Vishnu’ in its April 2013 edition. The picture had the sub title “God of Big Deals”, with the cricketing legend holding products of several companies including a shoe in his hand.

Taking cognizance of the complaint filed by Hiremath, the Sixth Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) had registered a case under section 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) along with 34 of Indian Penal Code against Dhoni. Later, the ACMM issued summons to Dhoni to appear before the court, which he did not abide and instead moved the High Court against the summons. Similar petitions against Dhoni were filed in Delhi, Pune and other cities when the news first broke out.