New Delhi / MS Dhoni approaches Supreme Court against Amrapali Group seeking Rs 40 cr in dues

Former India captain MS Dhoni has approached the Supreme Court against real estate company Amrapali group and sought the apex court’s intervention to get Rs 40 crore from the group for using his services for branding and marketing activities for six years.

Dhoni in his appeal to the Supreme Court has asked for certain land parcels of the Amrapali group to be earmarked for him to protect his interests. Dhoni’s plea comes after 46,000 plus homebuyers filed petitions against the Amrapali group for duping them into paying for their flats but not delivering them.

In the recent order, the court had asked the group to attach all of its properties besides those of its associate companies and their directors.

In 2009, Dhoni had entered into multiple agreements with Amrapali to promote the group and granted exclusive rights to the builder to use his endorsement in marketing and public relations activities. He remained associated with the group until 2016 after duped homebuyers launched a social media campaign against the cricketer for promoting the “fraudulent” company. Dhoni’s wife Sakshi was also associated with charity operations of the Amrapali group.

Dhoni has told the court that the company did not release the payments for his services and claimed that an amount of Rs 38.95 crore is due to him. “The builder, Amrapali group, owes an amount in excess of Rs 38.95 crore of which Rs 22.53 crore is towards the principal amount and Rs 16.42 crore towards interest calculated at 18% simple interest per annum,” he said as per a report by Times of India.

Along with his petition, Dhoni attached copies of his agreements with the builder. He said, “It was agreed that the firm will provide Amrapali Group with exclusive right to use his (Dhoni’s) endorsement in connection with the advertisements, marketing and PR activities. Also it was categorically agreed that all the payments under the agreement was to be paid to the applicant (Dhoni) only.”

The Supreme Court had on February 28 sent its Amrapali Group’s Chairman and Managing Director Anil Sharma and two directors — Shiv Priya and Ajay Kumar — to police custody for interrogation.