Confessed To IPL Spot-Fixing To Escape Police Torture: S Sreesanth To SC

In a startling revelation, former India pacer S Sreesanth, on Wednesday, revealed to the Supreme Court that he initially confessed to the Special Cell of Delhi Police about his alleged involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal to escape continuous police torture.

S Sreesanth along with Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan received life ban by the BCCI’s disciplinary committee in September 2013. Later, he was cleared of all charges by a Delhi trial court in 2015 due to insufficient evidence under the MCOCA act; a special law passed by the Maharashtra state government to tackle organised crime syndicates and terrorism.

But the BCCI has remained firm with its decision since it was independent to any criminal proceeding and was based on its independent disciplinary action. As a result, Sreesanth never managed to return to the field for India or any team related to the Indian cricket board. In fact, he even failed to obtain a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the BCCI to play outside India.

And till date, he is trying his best to get the ban lifted. On Wednesday, he told a bench of Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice KM Joseph that the bookie tried to drag him in the spot-fixing but he did not fall for it.

To claim his point, Sreesanth’s lawyer read the Malayalam transcript of the alleged telephonic conversation he had with a bookie. The court also sought BCCI’s response on this conversation and some documents relied upon by the former cricketer.

Senior counsel Salman Khurshid, who was appearing for Sreesanth, also said that too much was being read into the bowler using a towel during the fateful game.

Sreesanth was also asked why did he not inform the BCCI about being contacted by a bookie as the court rapped him for his casual conduct.

Sreesanth has moved the top court challenging the Kerala High Court order upholding the life-time ban on him by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).