SC quashes case against Dhoni for portraying himself as God

New Delhi, Sep 5 (PTI) The Supreme Court today quashedcriminal proceedings against cricketer M S Dhoni for allegedlyhurting religious sentiments by portraying himself as God on amagazine cover. A bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi granted the reliefto Dhoni after noting that the trial court in Karnataka erredin summoning the cricketer without following the due procedureof law. "We interfere with the order of the High Court and quashthe proceedings including the summoning order against theaccused… we have taken note of the complaint and the offencealleged while passing this order" the bench said. On September 14, last year, the apex court had stayed thecriminal proceedings against Dhoni on a complaint lodged forallegedly portraying himself as Lord Vishnu on a magazinecover page. The court had also stayed the operation of the order ofKarnataka High Court which had refused to stall the criminalproceedings against him. Dhoni had filed the Special Leave Petition challengingthe Karnataka HC order. The complaint, filed by social activist JayakumarHiremath, had alleged that Dhoni was seen on the cover of abusiness magazine as Lord Vishnu, holding several things,including a shoe in his hands. Taking cognisance of the complaint, the Additional ChiefMetropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) had directed registration of acase against Dhoni under section 295 (injuring or defilingplace of worship with intent to insult the religion of anyclass) along with 34 (common intention) of the IPC. Later, the ACMM had issued summons to Dhoni to appearbefore the court, against which he moved the High Court. PTIPKS MNL SJK RRTDV