Court recalls non-bailable warrant against Dhoni

The Ananthpur court that had issued a non-bailable warrant against India's limited overs cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for posing as Lord Vishnu on the cover page of a magazine on Tuesday recalled the issued warrant.

Dhoni was portrayed as Hindu god LOrd Vishnu with a sub-title "God of Big Deals" and holding products of several companies, including a shoe, in his hand.

"Our legal team led by Mr. Rajneesh Chopra today moved an application before the local court in Ananthpur, 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. The non-bailable warrant was issued against Mr. Dhoni for non-appearance before the Leaned Trial Court on 07.01.2016," Arun Pandey, chairman of Rhiti Sports, which manages Dhoni's off-field activities, said in a statement.

"In the hearing, the main ground of challenge posed by Mr. Chopra to the issuance of the non-bailable warrant was that M.S. Dhoni in person was never served by the summons as issued by the court. Due to this reason, Mr. 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."

"It was further informed to the Court by Mr. Chopra that the non -representation on behalf of Mr. 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 Mr. Chopra and was pleased to recall the order of issuance of the non-bailable warrant as passed against Mr. Dhoni."

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