Over 24 years after the cricket match-fixing scandal tainted the gentleman's game, a court here has framed charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy against four accused including Sanjeev Chawla, a London-based bookie and the "main conspirator", and actor Krishan Kumar, the brother of T-Series founder Gulshan Kumar.
The 68-page order by the Patiala House district court, which has now paved the way for the start of the trial, noted the alleged role of the four -- Chawla, Kumar, Delhi-based bookie Rajesh Kalra and Sunil Dara alias Bittoo.
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Delhi Police had filed the charge sheet in 2013 against them in connection with the 2000 cricket match-fixing scandal involving late South African captain Hansie Cronje.
Cronje died in a plane crash in 2002. Chawla was extradited to India in February 2020.
The court noted that according to the investigation, Chawla played the "most vital role by acting as a conduit between bookies and fixing matches in connivance with Hansie Cronje".
"Further, the entire match fixing would not have been possible without the active involvement of South African captain, Hansie Cronje who confessed to his role and involvement before the King's Commission of Enquiry.
"All other accused persons remained in constant touch with Sanjeev Chawla and each other and conspired to fix the matches," it said.
"Sanjeev Chawla was absconding for nearly 20 years" - Court issues statement
The King's Commission was appointed by the South African government to look into the allegations of match-fixing against the country's players.
During the proceedings, Chawla's advocate argued that there was no prima facie evidence that the person appearing before the court as Sanjeev Chawla was the same as the person named in the charge sheet.
Trashing the argument, the court said, "Accused no. 4 Sanjeev Chawla was absconding for nearly 20 years and could be apprehended only after painstakingly long extradition proceedings. To say that he is not the same person because the test identification parade was not conducted is absurd."
It took note of the investigation report that the "main conspirator" Chawla moved around with accused no. 6 Hansie Cronje "as his shadow" for most of the tournament by staying in the same hotels.
"The deals fixed with Cronje are onward shared with the other accused persons, who then proceed to further discuss it amongst themselves and place bets accordingly," the court noted.
Regarding Kalra, the court said that he allegedly met Cronje with Kalra on March 14, 2000, at a hotel in the national capital and made constant telephonic conversations with the South African captain.
"He is also alleged to have purchased a mobile connection in his name and the same was handed over to Cronje through Chawla. The King's Commission Report corroborates the same," it noted.
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