Framing of charges in Sreesanth IPL spot fixing case postponed to July 25

Ajit Chandila, S Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan

A pronouncement on order of framing of charges regarding the IPL 6 spot-fixing case involving suspended cricketers S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila, Ankeet Chavan and others, including the underworld legend Dawood Ibrahim and his aide Chhota Shakeel, was expected today. The order has now been postponed to July 25.

Speaking to the media after the postponement today, Sreesanth said, “I really hope on 25th July we get relief from this case and get back to normal life”.

He also seemed optimistic about his prospects. He said, “I believe in the Indian judiciary and everything is coming into place. It is just a matter of time”.

Forty-two people were named as accused by the Special Cell of Delhi Police. Out of the forty-two, six are still absconding. The police investigation alleged match-fixing, but the Court had not found any prima facie evidence to support this allegation. On May 23, Additional Sessions Judge Neena Bansal Krishna had instructed the defence counsel to file written arguments by June 6.

Intricacies of the spot-fixing case

Apart from the main 600-page chargesheet, the police also filed a supplementary chargesheet later on.The police said in the chargesheet that Dawood and Shakeel are behind “controlling the fixing and betting market” in India. The police had put forth the argument that telephonic conversations link the accused, and call details records establish a syndicate between them to enable match-fixing and betting.

The police also brought up the fact that Dawood and Shakeel have not come back to India since 1993, and that their properties have already been attached in connection with the Mumbai serial blasts case. Dawood Shakeel, and his other associates, Javed Chutani, Salman a.k.a Master and Ehteysham already have non-bailable warrants issued in their names.

The defence counsel rubbished the claims of the police, saying that the police has failed to show any prima facie evidence to frame charges in the case. The counsel added that the investigation conducted by the police has not uncovered any prima facie offence committed by the accused.

According to the provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act, Sreesanth, Chavan and others were granted bail due to lack of evidence. Chandila and others were too granted bail later.