IPL spot-fixing: BCCI refuses to lift life ban on Sreesanth, informs Kerala HC

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday informed the Kerala High Court that it will not lift the life ban imposed on former India speedster S

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday informed the Kerala High Court that it will not lift the life ban imposed on former India speedster S Sreesanth.

Former India cricketer S Sreesanth outside Patiala House Court after he was exonerated of spot-fixing charges in the 2013 IPL. (Ravi Choudhary/ HT File Photo)

The BCCI had banned Sreesanth in 2013 after he was arrested on charges of spot-fixing during that year’s Indian Premier League.

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The BCCI had also denied S Sreesanth a no objection certificate to play the Scottish League in January.

The BCCI told the court that the decision of its former administrative committee stands and the new committee can’t take a decision on Sreesanth’s issue now.

After he was acquitted by a special court in Delhi, S Sreesanth had approached the High Court with a plea to lift the ban imposed in the wake of the 2013 IPL spot- fixing scandal.

Rajasthan Royals players Ankeet Chavan, Ajit Chandila and Sreesanth have been acquitted by a Delhi court in the IPL spot fixing case. (HT File)

In his plea the cricketer said the BCCI came to a conclusion based on information provided by the Delhi Police. Since the court had quashed all charges and acquitted him in the case, the BCCI action is unwarranted, he said.

He also said the trial court had dismissed all charges including Section 3 of MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) and gave him a clean chit and it was wrong on the part of BCCI to punish him for the same offence.

“The entire prosecution case was based on a cooked-up story created according to the imagination and aspiration of a few officers of the Delhi Police,” he said in his plea.

Sreesanth also pointed out that the BCCI panel that inquired the IPL spot-fixing scam submitted its report without hearing him.

The BCCI had suspended him in May 2013 following his arrest from his friend’s house in Mumbai along with two other Rajasthan Royals cricketers Ajit Chandila, and Ankeet Chavan who were picked up from the team hotel.