Sports

Non-bailable warrant against Dhoni

A court in Ananthapur on Friday issued a non-bailable warrant against cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni in connection with a case of hurting religious sentiments by posing as Lord Vishnu on the cover photo of a magazine.Dhoni, who leads the Indian cricket team in Australia for a limited-overs series, had appeared as Indian god on the cover page of ‘Business Today’ in one of its 2013 editions. Dhoni has been asked to be present in court on February 25 for the case.In September last year, the Supreme Court had stayed criminal proceedings against Dhoni. It had also issued a notice to social activist Jayakumar Hiremath, who had filed the case against the cricketer. The Karnataka High Court, however, refused to quash the case, prompting Dhoni to file an appeal in the apex court.‘Court order erroneous’Dhoni never received summons from a local court in Andhra Pradesh that he has been accused of ignoring, his lawyer Rajneesh Chopra said insisting that the Non Bailable Warrant issued against the Indian cricket captain was “erroneous”.“Mahendra Singh Dhoni has utmost respect for the judiciary but the fact of the matter is that he has personally never received any summons with respect to the present case; therefore the order appears to be erroneous,” Dhoni’s lawyer Chopra said in a statement issued by Rhiti Sports, the company managing Dhoni.“Even as such, proceedings in a similar matter pending before the Hon’ble District Court of Bengaluru, Kartanaka has already been stayed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. In this matter, accordingly we will approach the courts and seek appropriate directions thereto,” he added.