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Manjot Kalra, former India Under-19 cricketer and Lankan Premier League (LPL) franchise Jaffna Kings co-owner, remains in custody on a match-fixing case as a Colombo court rejected his plea for early bail.
The court ordered Kalra to remain in custody until July 31 following his arrest earlier this month. Manjot Kalra is one of the main accused who has been alleged to have influenced the players to fix an ongoing LPL 2026 match.
Why does the court refuse to provide Manjot Kalra with advance bail?
Following the court’s order to take the former India Under-19 cricketer into custody, Kalra and Yuvraj Pushpa pleaded with Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama for an advance bail, which was reportedly turned down as the investigation is in process.
As per the latest media reports, defence counsel K.W.S. Fernando sought bail for Manjot Kalra and the fellow Indian citizen Yuvraj Pushpa, raising concerns over their health. The defence counsel claimed that both Kalra and Pushpa are unwell while remaining in custody.
The magistrate subsequently rejected the bail plea; therefore, both of them will remain in custody, as part of the investigation conducted by the Sri Lanka Police's Special Investigation Unit for the Prevention of Offences Relating to Sports.
At least five Sri Lankan cricketers filed complaints against Manjot Kalra
The allegations of possible match fixing against Manjot Kalra emerged ahead of the beginning of the ongoing sixth edition of the Lankan Premier League. Manjot is accused of influencing multiple cricketers with bribes to manipulate the matches in the league.
Sri Lanka internationals Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Avishka Fernando and Dunith Wellalage were among the top names who were reportedly the first to report Manjot’s suspicious activities to the investigator. Later, a couple of local cricketers also complained against the co-owner of the Jaffna Kings.
In the preliminary stage, the investigators claimed that they had enough evidence, including recordings of phone calls and videos, to prove Manjot tried to influence the players. However, despite the claims made by the investigators, the case is yet to get strong grounds in order to make the allegations and claims strong against Kalra and Pushpa.
Investigators earlier also told the Colombo court that several players were allegedly approached with proposals to influence the LPL 2026 matches. Authorities further mentioned that the players alerted the Sports Corruption Investigation Unit and continued to track the accused after receiving the allegations.
Jaffna Kings are currently being undertaken by Sri Lanka Cricket
The ongoing season of the Lankan Premier League began on July 17 and will run until August 8, and Manjot Kalra’s arrest was made around the opener of LPL 2026. As he was the co-owner of the Jaffna Kings, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had to intervene in the matter and took a few crucial steps to reorder the management structure of the franchise.
The league and Sri Lanka Cricket are currently controlling all the operations related to the franchise. Despite changes in the managerial structure and in the sponsorship of the team, it continues to play with its original name in the ongoing league.
