IPL: CBI files charge-sheet on two ED officials for alleged involvement in corruption

What’s the story?

While the IPL is known for its grandeur and fascinating matches on the field, the cash-rich tournament has also garnered attention for the scandals off the ground. In the wake of the infamous betting scandal that shook the Indian cricket fraternity, the CBI has now charge sheeted former Enforcement Directorate JP Singh along with then Additional Director Sanjay Kumar in connection with the scandal.

In the statement released by CBI, it said, “It has been alleged that certain officers of the Enforcement Directorate while investigating the cases of money laundering in betting and other such activities have allegedly demanded and accepted huge illegal gratification from the accused and suspect persons in the cases.”

The background

In 2013, 3 Indian players – S.Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila, Ankeet Chavan, were arrested in connection to spot-fixing and further investigation revealed the involvement of film actor Vindu Dara Singh. It was found that he was in constant contact with Chennai Super King’s owner Gurunath Meiyappan.

Just when things started to get a little too complicated, the Supreme Court intervened and formed a panel which was led by Justice Mukul Mudgal and as the probe continued, the alleged involvement of the respective owners of Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings came to light and both the teams were slapped with two-year suspensions.

The heart of the matter

The investigations into the betting and spot-fixing scandals have led to numerous arrests and detention of officers, players and also the team personnel, since its the inception. In the probe carried out by the CBI, former Joint Director of ED, JP Singh, was arrested in February for his alleged involvement to corrupt the game.

Yesterday, the CBI filed a charge-sheet and it is now evident that a few other bureaucrats have been named in the charge-sheet. It also includes 2000-batch Indian Revenue Officer Sanjay Kumar along with few others. It is believed that bookies had bribed the officials to get away illegally from the 2000-crore betting scandal and also the 5000-crore money laundering case.

It is alleged that Singh’s father-in-law, SKS Somvanshi, a retired Indian Revenue Officer had sought favours from the accused and it is also said that he had accepted a 15-crore bribe from hawala operators after Singh fraudulently favoured those who had involved in the scam in exchange for monetary benefits.

What’s next?

The BCCI along with the assistance of the country’s apex court have revamped the administrative structure in the state associations with an objective to clear the game from any illegitimate activities. Whereas the CBI has been continually probing the suspects involved in the scandals.

However, currently, it is difficult to predict where the whole case is heading towards and also about the dramatic turns it can take.

Author’s Take

It is disheartening to see the probing officers indulging in corrupt activities while investigating a major corruption case. For now, all we can do is to wait patiently for the game of cricket to be cleansed from unwanted activities because cricket has always been tagged ‘The Gentlemen’s Game’.