Relief for Dhoni as SC stays criminal proceedings

Relief for Dhoni as SC stays criminal proceedings: In a relief to star India cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed the criminal proceedings against him on a complaint lodged for allegedly denigrating religious feelings by portraying himself as Lord Vishnu on a magazine cover page.

A bench comprising justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and R K Agrawal also stayed the operation of the order of Karnataka High Court which had refused to stall the criminal proceedings against him. Dhoni had filed the Special Leave Petition challenging the Karnataka HC order. The original 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 SC bench led by PC Ghose also issued notice to the petitioner, Hiremath. The issue has been going on since April 2013, when the edition of the Business Today posted the photo of Dhoni. Titled ‘The God of Big Deals’, the Indian ODI skipper was seen on the cover page as Lord Vishnu, holding several things, including a shoe in his hands.

The image landed Dhoni in hot water with a complaint seeking registration of an FIR against Dhoni, the publisher and the editor of the magazine for allegedly insulting Hindu religion and its gods and goddesses. The complaint had been filed by activist Jayakumar Hiremath,under Section 295 A of the Indian Penal Code which relates to deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.

When the case was taken up in the Karnataka High Court, it was critical of Dhoni and stated that it was a tendency of celebrities to sign ads just for money without giving a thought to the consequences. “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 had said in his oral observation.