A sessions court here on Saturday discharged 36 accused, including cricketers S. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, in the Indian Premier League spot-fixing case of 2013. Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, his aide Chhota Shakeel and four others were, however, declared proclaimed offenders.
As Additional Sessions Judge Neena Bansal Krishna pronounced the brief order, “All are discharged”, Sreesanth broke down and others turned emotional and hugged one another. Counsel of the accused had argued that the investigation had failed to prove prima facie offence, with no evidence to frame charges.
In its reaction, the BCCI, which banned two of the three cricketers from the game for life in 2013, seemed to be unrelenting, as it affirmed that any disciplinary proceeding or decision taken by it was “independent of any criminal proceedings”.
“The decisions of the BCCI, based on its independent disciplinary action, shall remain unaltered,” the Board said and added that it would not make further comments.
The Special Cell of the Delhi Police had named 42 accused in its charge sheet. Six of them are absconding — the police said Dawood and Shakeel were behind the spot fixing, as they controlled the fixing and betting market.
While the main charge sheet ran into 6,000 pages, a supplementary one was filed later on. The court had earlier granted bail to Sreesanth, Chavan and others for lack of evidence under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, and later released Chandila on bail.
