Friday the 13th spells doom for Sree
BANNED Despite Delhi HC finding loopholes in case against Sreesanth & Co, BCCI makes a statement
NEW DELHI: When BCCI’s Working Committee was handed anticorruption chief Ravi Sawani’s report on August 29, there were murmurs within BCCI that S Sreesanth was set to face the harshest possible punishment. Sawani’s recommendations to the Board were made public in a media report on Friday morning. And just a few hours later, Sreesanth & Co were given a forum to plead their innocence.
In the end, the hearing was a mere formality. So was Sawani’s report. While Sawani had recommended a five-year ban for Sreesanth, a verdict that was to be pronounced later this month, the disciplinary committee thought otherwise. They wanted to make a statement. They thought it was fitting for Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan to be slapped with life bans.
There lies the question: What investigation did Sawani conduct before preparing his report? His report that leaked to a newspaper had little mention of Delhi Police’s findings. And that is because Delhi Police did not hand Sawani any concrete evidence. Remember, the evidence is now the case property of court. Also, prima facie evidence is only for circulation among defence lawyers, not a third party like the BCCI.
Add to that, BCCI has been oblivious to the fact that Delhi High Court shot down the chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police, saying it had loopholes, just a few months ago. And recently, Patiala House Court of Delhi too found missing links in the investigations made by the Delhi Police special cell.
Fur t her more, t he cour t didn’t take up the police’s plea for the cancellation of bail of Sreesanth. The court also didn’t find any reason to invoke provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
Also, the audio evidence presented by the Delhi Police was deemed futile by the Delhi High Court. And yet, BCCI was somehow better equipped to finding “enough evidence” to act.
What is most difficult to fathom is that Mumbai Police’s evidence against CSK owner Gurunath Meiyappan and Rajasthan Royals owner Raj Kundra has been swiftly overlooked by a two-member probe panel of former judges appointed by BCCI president N Srinivasan. The reason: Mumbai Police didn’t co-operate with BCCI.
CHANDILA LATER Since Ajit Chandila got bail only four days ago, it wasn’t possible for Sawani to hold interviews with the off-spinner. Remember, Sreesanth and Chavan were available for interrogation since they got bail back in June. Therefore, Sawani’s report didn’t have any mention of Chandila. He will be preparing a fresh report for Chandila.