Non-bailable warrant issued against Dhoni withdrawn

The non-bailable warrant issued against Mahendra Singh Dhoni, in relation to a case of hurting religious sentiments, was withdrawn by a local court in Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday (January 19).

"The court that had issued a non-bailable warrant against cricketer MS Dhoni under the pretext of posing as Lord Vishnu on the cover page of Business Today magazine has today recalled the issued warrant.”

“Our legal team led by Rajneesh Chopra today, moved an application before the local court in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, thereby seeking cancellation of the non-bailable warrant as issued against the cricketer by the local court vide its order dated 07.01.2016," stated a media release issued by Dhoni's management firm, Rhiti Sports.

"In today's hearing, the main ground of challenge posed by Rajneesh Chopra (Dhoni's lawyer) to the issuance of the non-bailable warrant was that MS Dhoni in person was never served by the summons as issued by the court. Due to this reason, Dhoni and our legal team were unaware of the fact that they were required to appear in the local court at Ananthpur on 07.01.2016," the company said in its statement.

"It was further informed to the Court by Chopra that the non-representation on behalf of Dhoni before the Ld Trial Court was not intentional but only due to the above-mentioned reason. The Ld Trial Court found merit in the arguments of Chopra and was pleased to recall the order of issuance of the non-bailable warrant as passed against Dhoni," the release further stated.

The warrant was issued as per the court's order on January 7, for a morphed picture of India's limited-overs captain that appeared on the cover of a magazine in April 2013.

The picture which depicted Dhoni as a Hindu deity, headlined 'God of big deals', shows him endorsing a variety of products, including a shoe.

This prompted Jayakumar Hiremath, a social activist, to register a complaint against Dhoni, with a case being registered against him under section 295 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The matter is now listed for further hearing on February 25.

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza and India captain MS Dhoni having a light moment before the second match of the series on Sunday. A Banglawash is definitely in the mind of the Bangladesh skipper. File photo: Star