Champions Trophy 2025: PCB to earn additional rs 38 crore through hybrid model
New Delhi: Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has stated that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will receive an additional $4.5 million (approximately Rs 38.2 crore) from the International Cricket Council (ICC) after agreeing to a hybrid model for hosting the Champions Trophy 2025. This model ensures that while Pakistan will host the tournament, India’s matches will be played at a neutral venue.
Chopra highlighted that the PCB has managed to safeguard its interests, as a similar arrangement will be extended to them during ICC events hosted by India in 2025 and 2026.
“There is no financial loss for Pakistan. The ICC will provide an additional $4.5 million to cover the costs of organising games outside Pakistan. The only loss could be in terms of tourism, which would have benefited Pakistan’s economy,” said Chopra on his YouTube channel.
He also shared his positive experiences of touring Pakistan, emphasising the warmth of its people.
Under the agreed framework, India will not travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025, and Pakistan’s teams will similarly skip Indian venues for the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 and T20 World Cup 2026.
While the location for India’s matches in the Champions Trophy remains undecided, reports suggest Colombo or Dubai as potential options. The arrangement was necessitated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) refusal to send its team to Pakistan over security concerns.
The Indian cricket team has not toured Pakistan since 2008.
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Delhi court sentences Haryana gangster Vikas Gulia, associate to life imprisonment
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court has sentenced Haryana gangster Vikas Gulia and his associate to life imprisonment under MCOCA provisions, but refused the death penalty saying the offences did not fall under the category of 'rarest of the rare cases'.
Additional Sessions Judge Vandana Jain sentenced Gulia and Dhirpal alias Kana to rigorous imprisonment for life under Section 3 (punishment for organised crime) of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
In an order dated December 13, the judge said, "Death sentence can only be awarded in 'rarest of the rare cases' wherein the murder is committed in an extremely inhumane, barbarous, grotesque or dastardly manner as to arouse umbrage of the community at large."
The judge said that on weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, it could be concluded that the present case did not fall under the category, and so, the death penalty could not be imposed upon the convicts.
"Thus, both the convicts are sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs 3 lakh each, for committing the offence under Section 3 of MCOCA," she said.
The public prosecutor, seeking the death penalty for both the accused, submitted that they were involved in several unlawful activities while they were on bail in other cases.
He argued that the accused had shown no respect for the law and acted without any fear of legal consequences, and therefore did not deserve any leniency from the court.
The court noted that both convicts were involved in offences of murder, attempt to murder, extortion, robbery, house trespass, and criminal intimidation. Besides, they had misused the liberty of interim bail granted to them by absconding.
It said, "The terror of the convicts was such that it created fear psychosis in the mind of the general public, and they lost complete faith in the law enforcement agencies and chose to accede to the illegal demands of convicts. Despite suffering losses, they could not gather the courage to depose against them."
The court noted that Gulia was involved in at least 18 criminal cases, while Dhirpal had links to 10 serious offences.
It underlined that MCOCA had been enacted "keeping in view the fact that organised crime had come up as a serious threat to society, as it knew no territorial boundaries and is fuelled by illegal wealth generated by committing the offence of extortion, contract killings, kidnapping for ransom, collection of protection money, murder, etc."
Both accused persons had been convicted on December 10 in a case registered at Najafgarh police station. The police filed a chargesheet under Section 3 (punishment for organised crime) and 4 (punishment for possessing unaccountable wealth on behalf of member of organised crime syndicate) of MCOCA.
