After showing no
urgency in the emergency meet yesterday in Chennai the BCCI seemed to have
passed the buck over to the affected IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals (RR).
Accordingly today the RR has distanced itself from the implicated players and
is likely to file an FIR with the police against them. However, more
promisingly, the BCCI has sent its officials to Delhi to meet Delhi Police in a supposed
effort to get more information on the IPL Spot Fixing case. Yesterday, the BCCI
President N Srinivasan had denied having enough information from the police.
Meanwhile, Delhi
police has arrested a former Ranji cricketer in the domestic circuit and two
more bookies. At the moment the CCTV footage seems to hold the key for
producing conclusive evidence in the courts.
The Government
of India, apparently shaken by this huge scam, is mulling to formulate a
separate law to deal with match and spot fixing cases sternly. Indian Law
Minister Kapil Sibal met the Sports Minister last night and discussed about the
issue. Kapil Sibal said that the Indian Penal Code (IPC) does not recognize
match or spot fixing as offenses and can deal with them only under Section 420
of the IPC that refers to cheating or frauds. Since this cannot deal with match
fixing effectively a separate law is the urgent need of the hour and a new Bill
to check match fixing is likely to be presented in the next session of the
Indian Parliament, the Law Minister added. Sibal also said that such scams harm
public faith in sports and any kind of fixing must be prevented in all
disciplines of sports. The Sports Ministry also confirmed that efforts were
still on to bring the BCCI under the Right To Information (RTI) Act.
Police custody
for the three cheats ends tomorrow and there are reports that the Kingpin of
fixing, Sreesanth, is set to move for bail. There are also reports that all
three cheats have confessed to their crimes and with conclusive evidence
forthcoming Delhi Police could appeal for extended custody and denial of bail. Everything
must be ensured so that the complete IPL scandal comes to public light and the
criminals severely punished. This is a decisive moment to cleanse cricket once
for all.















