Sreesanth escaped due to vacuum of law: Former Delhi CP Neeraj Kumar
New Delhi, Apr 7: Stakeholders have shown a distinct lack of seriousness in bringing a law against corruption in Indian sports, a reason why someone like tainted former pacer S Sreesanth got away despite strong evidence of spot-fixing against him in the 2013 IPL, former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar has said.
Kumar, a celebrated IPS officer who served for 37 years, was in charge of Delhi Police when its Special Cell under his guidance arrested Sreesanth and fellow Rajasthan Royals cricketers Ajit Chandila and Ankit Chavan on spot-fixing charges.
However, in 2019, the Supreme Court, despite ruling that there was evidence against the former India player, asked BCCI to reconsider the life ban on him. The punishment was eventually reduced to a seven-year suspension that ended in September, 2020.
"The case seemingly didn't go anywhere...unfortunately, there is no law (in India) to deal with corruption in cricket or corruption in sports in general," Kumar said during an exclusive interaction with PTI journalists at its headquarters here.
"Even a country like Zimbabwe has specific law. Australia, New Zealand have it...in Europe, there is a law because corruption is there not just in cricket but in football, tennis, golf," said the 70-year-old.
He was also associated with the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal in 2000 as part of CBI's investigating team. Kumar said the biggest roadblock in prosecuting corruption in sports is the absence of a law.
"So many things that we do, they do not stand test of judicial scrutiny, for instance. If we say, during match-fixing, people were cheated, now the court will ask, show me one person, who is cheated, produce that person in court," he rued.
"Who will come to the court and say I went to a cricket match expecting fair-play and for everybody to play to his or her potential? So, in the absence of a victim, it becomes very difficult to prove a case," Kumar explained the grey areas.
In India, a law to curb the malice has been in the works since 2013. The Prevention of Sporting Fraud Bill (2013), which was tabled in Lok Sabha in 2018, had a provision for five-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10 lakh for those found guilty of sporting fraud, including fixing.
The bill was drafted by Justice (retd) Mukul Mudgal and was seen as a game-changer to curb match-fixing.
It was to replace the 'Public Gambling Act of 1867', under which anyone indulging in betting could be fined only Rs 200 or handed three months in prison.
Sreesanth is back in the mainstream and even played Ranji Trophy for Kerala before retiring from first-class cricket. He is now seen in various Legends' Leagues and also gives expert opinion on various broadcast forums.
"...court has praised the work done by the Police. The judge said special cell has done excellent work...taken great pains to expose this racket, but in absence or vacuum of law, I am not in a position to hold anyone of them guilty and sentence them. These were his exact words."
Kumar, who wrote the book 'A Cop in Cricket' about his experiences handling corruption in the sport, is hopeful that the matter, which has been opened again in the Delhi High Court, will reach its logical conclusion.
"...we have challenged that order and it is now in Delhi HC but it has not proceeded much initially because of COVID but now few hearings have taken place and you shouldn't be surprised if the order is reversed, because we have so much other evidence.
"Sreesanth got reprieve from Kerala HC but it has not said he is innocent."
Kumar also feels that the case against former India skipper Mohammed Azharuddin, who was implicated in the 2000 scandal, "wasn't allowed to be completed".
"...if the Azharuddin case would had been allowed to reach its logical conclusion, some very big names would have been exposed but that was also not allowed.
"...somewhere there is lack of seriousness in dealing with corruption in sport, particularly cricket. Big names did come to light, they were put in a sealed envelope and it still remains sealed in the Supreme Court," Kumar referred to the names that Justice Mudgal's committee submitted to the apex court.
Anti-corruption law in sport needed
Kumar believes that the government can earn goodwill by passing the anti-corruption bill lying in Parliament.
"If we have that law, scenario will change completely, people will not go scot-free. It's a low hanging fruit...I don't know why they are not doing it," he said.
BCCI indifferent to corruption
Kumar also had an opportunity to work as the chief of BCCI's Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) for close to four years and he didn't find the world's richest Board sincere in dealing with corruption.
"...they were totally indifferent to the whole matter of corruption and they didn't give me the necessary resources," he said.
Satisfaction in curbing private leagues
The BCCI provided Kumar only two people for assistance and yet, he said, they managed to clamp down on private leagues which were hot-beds of corruption.
"We did successfully bust many cases...The phenomenon of private leagues, where some people get together and hold a league only to indulge in fixing. We had success in stopping some of them."
The experience left him "quite disillusioned" with cricket in general.
"I stopped watching IPL as I was hugely disappointed. Having worked in BCCI, I am not enamoured by the game as I was at one point in time."
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Delhi sizzles at 42.8 deg C, logs hottest day of year so far
New Delhi (PTI): The national capital sweltered on Saturday, recording its highest maximum temperature of the year so far. Several weather stations reported heatwave conditions across the city, even as the IMD has forecast rain from Monday to Wednesday, bringing some hope of respite to Delhiites.
While a yellow alert had been issued for Saturday, a similar alert remains in place for Sunday as well, warning people of isolated heatwave conditions.
On Saturday, Safdarjung, representative of the city's weather, recorded a maximum temperature of 42.8 degrees Celsius, 5.1 degrees above normal and a 0.9-degree rise from the day before, thus fulfilling the criteria for a heatwave.
According to the India Meteorological Department, a heatwave is classified when the maximum temperature is 40 degrees Celsius or above, and it is 4.5 degrees to 6.4 degrees above normal.
This was also the highest maximum recorded in Delhi in the last four years since 2022, when the maximum had reached 43.5 degrees Celsius on April 28, 2022.
Safdarjung recorded a minimum temperature of 25.2 degrees Celsius, 2.5 degrees above normal and a mere 0.7-degree rise from the day before.
Other weather stations also recorded isolated heatwave conditions. Lodhi Road recorded a maximum temperature of 42.6 degrees Celsius, 5.6 degrees above the normal; Ridge recorded a minimum of 44.5 degrees, 6.1 degrees above the normal; and Ayanagar logged a minimum temperature of 43.2 degrees Celsius, 4.8 degrees above the normal.
While the IMD had initially classified Friday as the season's first isolated heat wave, the MeT department later clarified on Saturday that it had been the third consecutive day of a heatwave.
IMD classifies a heatwave when at least two stations have met the required criteria. An IMD official clarified that while Delhi had fulfilled the heatwave condition only in one station on Thursday, the two-step criteria are actually for the entire subdivision of Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi.
"On Thursday, one station, Rohtak to be specific, of Haryana and Ridge of Delhi, had satisfied heatwave criteria, thus making it the first day. Saturday was the third consecutive day of heat waves," an IMD official said.
Meanwhile, the weather department has issued a yellow alert for Sunday as well. The official added, "These conditions are likely to continue till Sunday.
Under the influence of the setting in of lower tropospheric level easterly winds, the maximum temperature might drop on Tuesday, as forecasts suggest very light rain possible from Monday.
According to forecasts by the MeT department, a spell of very light rain, along with thunderstorms and gusty winds, might bring some respite from Monday to at least Wednesday. The maximum temperature is forecast to fall to 38-40 degrees Celsius by the end of next week.
The minimum temperature is likely to be around 25-27 degrees Celsius for the next couple of days.
The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of Delhi stood at 243 (poor) at 4 pm, compared to an AQI of 226 (poor) recorded at the same time on Friday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
According to CPCB standards, an AQI of 0-50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor', and 401-500 'severe'.
The Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) for Delhi has forecast the AQI to remain in the poor category over the weekend and then improve to the moderate category in the subsequent days.
