A trial court on Saturday discharged all 36 accused in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing case who were earlier arrested by Delhi police. These include cricketers S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, who were cleared of all previous charges in the scam.
A total of 42 accused had been chargesheeted by police in this matter, out of which six including Dawood Ibrahim and Chota Shakeel (said to be the main guys behing the scam) are absconding.
The ruling means Sreesanth and others can now approach the BCCI for permission to resume training and possibly make a return in the world of cricket. All the three cricketers have hinted at making an appeal to the Indian Board in the near future.
I am thankful to God, I want to start training again and hopefully should get BCCI’s permission too-S Sreesanth pic.twitter.com/e1dtxveM5F
— ANI (@ANI_news) July 25, 2015
IPL case: It was a bad dream for me and my family, I am very happy today-Ajit Chandila after being acquitted pic.twitter.com/xpLNM84j5e
— ANI (@ANI_news) July 25, 2015
The IPL fixing case goes back to May 16, 2013 when Rajasthan Royals players S Sreesanth, Chavan and Chandila were arrested on charges of spot-fixing during IPL 2013. Along with them, eleven bookies were also arrested including Amit Singh, a former player of Rajasthan Royals.
Sreesanth and Chavan had been handed life bans for their involvement in fixing IPL matches on September 13, 2013. The two will now be seeking a reversal of the same through an appeal to BCCI.
Earlier this month, The MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings franchise and Rajasthan Royals were both been suspended for two years from taking part in the IPL after the Supreme Court-appointed Chief Justice RM Lodha panel announced its judgment on Tuesday in the tournament’s spot-fixing matter.