India’s limited overs cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been given a non-bailable warrant by a court in the district of Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh. The case is regarding an April 2013 magazine issue, where the Indian captain Dhoni was depicted in a photo as a Hindu deity endorsing multiple products. The photo was captioned with ‘God of Big Deals’.
This warrant is the consequence of a petition filed by a local Hindu organisation – Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and its leader Shyam Sunder, who believed that the magazine picture of Dhoni as a deity would hurt Hindu sentiments.
“I had gone to court as the picture hurt Hindu sentiments,” Sunder told local TV channels.
Dhoni has been asked to appear in court before February 25th. The player is currently in preparations for India’s tour of Australia.
MS Dhoni is yet to make a statement on it personally, but his management team have denied any involvement with the photo. They claim to be oblivious to the photo’s creation and publishing.