Expressing concern over “repeated adjournment” in the IPL spot-fixing scandal case, a court in New Delhi on Friday directed the Delhi Police to supply the copies of charge sheet and other documents filed along with it to all accused, including suspended cricketers S. Sreesanth and Ajit Chandila, by March 26.
The order came after the court observed that proceedings in the case have been adjourned as complete set of documents have not been supplied to the accused.
“A bare perusal of the previous proceedings shows that the present case is getting repeatedly adjourned for supply of deficient copies to one or the other accused,” Additional Sessions Judge Bharat Parashar said and posted the matter for March 26.
“It has thus being decided with the consent of all the parties, present in the court that the investigating officer (IO) shall ensure supply of deficient hard copy of the charge sheet as well as its soft copy to the counsel for all the accused persons well before the next date of hearing...,” the judge said.
The court also said that after scrutiny of documents gets over, it would fix the matter for hearing arguments on framing of charges in the case.
During the hearing, counsel appearing for various accused said they have not received the documents their scrutiny has not yet completed.
The accused, including Sreesanth, Chandila and Chavan, who were earlier granted bail, today appeared before the court during the proceeding.
The Special Cell of Delhi Police had filed a 6,000-page charge sheet against the accused in the case.
The court had on June 10 last year granted bail to Sreesanth, Chavan and 19 others for lack of evidence against them under the provisions of stringent law Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
Various other accused, including Chandila, were later on also granted bail by the court.
The police, in its charge sheet, had claimed that accused underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his aide Chhota Shakeel, who have been “controlling the fixing and betting market” in cricket in India, were behind the IPL spot-fixing.
