Relief from SC to Dhoni in Lord Vishnu case

IN RELIEF TO ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Supreme Court on Friday stayed criminal proceedings against the cricketer in the case of allegedly portraying himself as Lord Vishnu in an advertisement.

Hearing Dhoni's petition to transfer a case against him from Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur to Bengaluru, a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra issued notice to complainant Yerraguntla Shyam Sundar asking him why the criminal case filed by him against Dhoni should not be transferred as sought by the cricketer.

The bench has sought responses from Shyam Sundar and the state police on Dhoni's petition within eight weeks and stayed the criminal proceedings in the case till then.

Earlier, the apex court had stayed criminal proceedings against the cricketer in a similar case against him in a Bengaluru court and had also stayed the operation of Karnataka High Court order which had refused to stall proceedings against him.

A case was registered against Dhoni for injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class along with common intention under the Indian Penal Code.