The Supreme Court on Monday quashed a criminal case against India's limited overs cricket captain M.S. Dhoni for being depicted as Lord Vishnu on the cover of a business magazine.
Abench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Prafulla C. Pant quashed the criminal case against Dhoni, holding that the procedure contemplated for initiating such a criminal case was not complied with.
Petitioner Jayakumar Hiremath had filed the criminal complaint alleging that depiction of Dhoni as Lord Vishnu in commercial context has hurt the sentiments of the people as it was trivialising the revered god of Hindus.
The cover page in question had a photo of Dhoni portrayed as Lord Vishu with multiple hands, each holding the products that were being endorsed by him.
The top court by its August 24, 2015, order had stayed proceedings in criminal complaint before a Bengaluru court and the notice was issued on October 12, 2015.
--IANS
pk/vd
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