Match referee Chris Broad completes triple century of ODIs
Pune, Oct 27 : Chris Broad Saturday became only the second member of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees to reach 300 ODIs when he walked out for the toss in the third match between India and the West Indies here.
Even though Broad made his ODI debut as an official in Auckland in 2004, 11 years after Ranjan Madugalle refereed in his opening match in Karachi, the Englishman now trails the Sri Lankan by only 36 ODIs.
Jeff Crowe of New Zealand is third on the list with 270 ODIs, while former India fast bowler Javagal Srinath has officiated in 212 ODIs. Roshan Mahanama retired in 2015 after refereeing in 222 ODIs.
Broad is presently sitting on 98 Tests and will become the second referee after Madugalle to complete a unique double by reaching the 100-Test mark in the second Test between New Zealand and Bangladesh in Wellington in March 2019. Madugalle also leads Broad 92-89 on a head-to-head in T20Is.
A stylish left-handed top-order batsman during his playing days, Broad became an elite match referee in 2004, a year after refereeing in his maiden Test in Hamilton, and has since refereed in all the ICC Cricket World Cups.
"I feel honoured and incredibly fortunate to be actively involved with the game for such a long period," remarked Broad, adding: "300 is not a number for me but a story of all those who have made contributions and sacrifices so that I can live my dreams and achieve my objectives.
"On top of that list is my immediate family, and followed by colleagues in the ECB and ICC, and all my mates in the match officials' panel."
To mark the occasion, a memento was presented to Broad before the start of the match. He played 25 Tests and 34 ODIs for England between 1984 and 1989, scoring 1661 and 1361 runs, respectively.
In 1986-87, he hit three successive centuries in an Ashes series to equal Jack Hobbs and Wally Hammond's record.
Besides 300 ODIs, Broad has also refereed in 98 Tests and 89 T20Is. He will complete his century of Tests in the second Test between New Zealand and Bangladesh in Wellington in March 2019.
Broad's son Stuart is a regular member of the England Test side, having taken 433 wickets in 123 matches. He also played in 121 ODIs and 56 T20Is, taking 121 and 55 wickets, respectively.
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Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
