The 2013

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...

spot-fixing and betting case arose when the

Delhi Police The Delhi Police (DP) is the law enforcement agency for the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). Delhi Police comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India. In 2015, sanctioned strength of Delhi ...

arrested three

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

ers, Sreesanth,

Ajit Chandila Ajit Chandila (born 5 December 1983) is a former Indian cricketer from Haryana. He played for Rajasthan Royals until 2013 but was previously known for his performance for the Air India North Zone team. Indian Premier League career His (IPL) ...

and

Ankeet Chavan Ankeet Chavan (born 28 October 1985) is a cricketer who played for Mumbai in Indian domestic cricket. He is an all-rounder who is a left-handed batsman and slow left-arm orthodox bowler. He also played for Rajasthan Royals in Indian Premier Lea ...

, on the charges of alleged spot-fixing. The three represented the Rajasthan Royals in the

2013 Indian Premier League The 2013 season of the Indian Premier League, abbreviated as IPL 6 or Pepsi IPL 2013, was the sixth season of the IPL, established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007. The tournament featured nine teams and was held fro ...

. In a separate case,

Mumbai Police The Mumbai Police ( Marathi: मुंबई पोलीस, IAST: ''Mumbaī Pulīs'', formerly ''Bombay Police'') is the police department of the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a part of Maharashtra Police and has the primary responsibilit ...

arrested

Vindu Dara Singh Vindu Dara Singh (born Virender Singh Randhawa; 6 May 1964) is an Indian actor who does Hindi and Punjabi television films. He is the winner of the third season of ''Bigg Boss''. Before this, In 1996 he played the role of Lord Hanuman in '' ...

, Priyank Sepany (diamond dealer) and

Chennai Super Kings Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 2008, the team plays its home matches at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The team is owned by India ...

Team Principal Gurunath Meiyappan for alleged betting. In July 2015, the RM Lodha Committee suspended

India Cements The India Cements Limited is a cement manufacturing company based in Chennai. It is the 9th largest listed cement company in India by revenue. The company is headed by former International Cricket Council chairman and Board of Control for Cricket ...

and Jaipur IPL, owners of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals respectively, for two years. Additionally, Sreesanth, Chandila and Chavan were cleared of all the charges after they were found not guilty by the

Patiala House Courts Patiala House Courts Complex is one of the seven District Courts complexes located near India Gate in the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT of Delhi). The main part is housed in the Patiala House, the former palace of the Maharaja of ...

. However, in January 2016, Chandila was given a life ban from all forms of cricket by the BCCI. In March 2019, the Supreme Court lifted the life ban imposed by BCCI on Sreesanth.

Investigation details

Sreesanth was arrested at his friend's house, whereas Chandila and Chavan were arrested from their team hotel in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

. Rajasthan Royals suspended the contracts of the three players until the investigation was complete. Delhi police have claimed that Chavan has confessed being involved in the spot fixing. The police also claimed that Chandila had tried to get other players, including Chavan, involved in the spot fixing under the direction of the bookies. The

Board of Control for Cricket in India The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the worl ...

(BCCI) suspended the players till further investigation. BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale, said, "The BCCI is shocked and saddened at the recent developments. The BCCI has zero tolerance to corruption. We will offer all cooperation to the Delhi police and all other authorities in their investigations in this matter. The IPL Governing Council has met and decided that the cricketers found involved will be dealt with severely." On 4 June 2013, Delhi Police said that Sreesanth, Chandila, Chavan and 23 other people arrested by them in the spot-fixing scandal were going to be charged with the provisions of

Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act The Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999 (Mah. 30/1999) is a law enacted by the state of Maharashtra in India in 1999 to combat organised crime and terrorism. Known as 'MCOCA', the Act provides the State Government with special power ...

(MCOCA) since they were acting under the command of underworld dons Dawood Ibrahim and

Chhota Shakeel Chhota Shakeel (born 31 December 1955) is an Indian crime boss and a high-ranking leader of the D-Company, a criminal group based in South Asia. He joined the D-Company in 1988 under the kingpin Dawood Ibrahim, and was reportedly responsible fo ...

. Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and 17 other people (including 14 alleged bookies) who were arrested by the Delhi Police were released on bail on 10 June 2013 by a Delhi court due to lack of evidence to be charged under MCOCA. Ajit Chandila had not applied for bail. Bombay High Court has sought investigation progress report from Mumbai Crime Branch during the hearing of a public interest litigation filed by social-activist Ketan Tirodkar. Delhi Police chief Neeraj Kumar said they had been taping phone calls since April 2013. He added, "Further arrests will be of bookies and no more players will be arrested." The

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are 108 national associations, with 12 Full Members and 96 Associate Members. Founded in 1909 as the '' ...

withdrew umpire

Asad Rauf Asad Rauf ( Punjabi, ur, ; 12 May 1956 – 14 September 2022) was a Pakistani cricket player and umpire. He was a member of the ICC Elite Umpire Panel from 2006 to 2013. Alleged to have been involved in match-fixing and spot-fixing of cricket ...

from the Champions Trophy in the wake of reports that the Mumbai Police were conducting an investigation into Asad Rauf's activities in the IPL spot fixing scandal.

Arrest of bookies

Sunil Bhatia, a bookie arrested by Delhi Police, said that he was involved in fixing in

Indian Cricket League The Indian Cricket League (ICL) was a private cricket league funded by Zee Entertainment Enterprises that operated between 2007 and 2009 in India. Its two seasons included tournaments between four international teams (World XI, India, Pakistan ...

and

Bangladesh Premier League The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) ( bn, বাংলাদেশ প্রিমিয়ার লীগ) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league consisting of seven franchises. The BPL is one of the three professional cricket leagues in ...

besides the IPL leading to speculations that the entire fixing scandal runs even deeper. A team of Delhi Police Special Cell officers arrested Yahya Mohammad in the early hours of 24 May 2013 from the

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) is an international airport that serves Hyderabad, the capital of the Indian state of Telangana. It is located in Shamshabad, about south of Hyderabad and it was opened on 23 March 2008 to replace B ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

in connection with the cricket betting. Ahmedabad Crime Branch arrested bookie Vinod Mulchandani from the Satellite Area of

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

city on 25 May 2013. 12.8 million INR in cash, laptops and mobile phones were seized from his possession.

was arrested for alleged links to bookies in this spot fixing. He was later released on bail on 3 June 2013 by a Mumbai court.

Gurunath Meiyappan case

Call records of

in connection with the betting scandal showed that he was in frequent contact with

(CSK) team principal and BCCI president

N. Srinivasan Narayanaswami Srinivasan (born 3 January 1945) is an Indian industrialist. He is a former Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and former President of the BCCI, the governing body for cricket in India. He is also the managing ...

's son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan. To investigate whether frequent calls to Meiyappan were for betting, Mumbai Police issued summons to him. On 24 May 2013, Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested on charges of betting, conspiracy and cheating after he was questioned by the Mumbai Crime Branch. After his arrest, the CSK franchise immediately disowned him. In a press statement on 24 May 2013,

, which owns the CSK franchisee said: "Mr. Meiyappan is neither the owner, nor the CEO/Team Principal of the Chennai Super Kings. eis only one of the members (Honorary) of the management team of the Chennai Super Kings." The main reason for the immediate disowning of him was that, his arrest could lead to termination of the CSK franchise. This was because of the Clause 11.3 (c) of the Franchise Agreement, which stated On 26 May, BCCI announced that a three-member commission would investigate the role of Meiyappan in the spot-fixing and betting scandal. On 31 May 2013, a senior Mumbai Police official said that Meiyappanan had been found "Not Guilty" . Meiyappan was later released on bail by a Mumbai court, on 3 June 2013.

Raj Kundra case

On 5 June 2013, Rajasthan Royals team co-owner

Raj Kundra Raj Kundra is a British-Indian businessman, who was ranked as the 198th richest British Asian by Success. His father, Bal Krishan Kundra was a middle-class businessman and his mother Usha Rani Kundra was a shop assistant when he was a child. ...

was questioned by the

for alleged involvement in illegal betting. On 6 June 2013, Delhi Police claimed that he had confessed to them of placing bets on his IPL team through a bookie who was his friend. On 7 June 2013, Rajasthan Royals team management said that Raj Kundra would be suspended and all his shares in the team taken back if the charges against him of betting were proved. Because of this, he was suspended from the IPL by the BCCI on 10 June 2013.

Supreme court observation

On 25 March 2014, the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

told

to step down from his position on his own as BCCI president in order to ensure a fair investigation into the betting and spot-fixing charges levied against his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan who was team principal of

, else it would pass verdict asking him to step down. The Supreme court said it was "nauseating" that N. Srinivasan continued as BCCI chief.

Mukul Mudgal Committee

In October 2013,

appointed a three-member committee headed by Justice (Retd.)

Mukul Mudgal Justice Mukul Mudgal is a retired Indian judge of Delhi High Court, and remained Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court from 2009 to 2011.Additional Solicitor General of India L Nageswara Rao and senior advocate and former

cricket umpire In cricket, an umpire (from the Old French ''nompere'' meaning not a peer, i.e. not a member of one of the teams, impartial) is a person who has the authority to make decisions about events on the cricket field according to the ''Laws of Cricket ...

Nilay Dutta Nilayananda Dutta (1952/3 – 19 September 2021) was a senior lawyer, cricket administrator, and Indian cricket umpire. He stood in one ODI game in 1990. He was a senior advocate in the Supreme Court of India and an official of the Assam Cricke ...

. The former Indian Cricket Captain

Sourav Ganguly Sourav Chandidas Ganguly (; natively spelled as Gangopadhyay; born 8 July 1972), affectionately known as Dada (meaning ''"elder brother"'' in Bengali), is an Indian cricket administrator, commentator and former national cricket team captain w ...

has also been appointed as a part of the committee and a part of the investigating process of the committee.

Reactions

Initially, Sreesanth's father Shantakumaran Nair termed his son's arrest to be a "larger conspiracy", and blamed cricketers

MS Dhoni Mahendra Singh Dhoni (; born 7 July 1981) is an Indian former international cricketer who was captain of the Indian national cricket team in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2017 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014. He is also the curren ...

and

Harbhajan Singh Harbhajan Singh (born 3 July 1980) is a member of parliament in Rajya Sabha and an Indian retired cricketer and cricket commentator, who played for the Indian national cricket team from 1998 - 2016. Singh was a right-arm spin bowler. In India ...

for connecting his son with the scandal, but later retracted the statement. There were reports that the

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

and the

police were in an unfriendly competition between each other and there was a lack of coordination between them. These reports were later dismissed by

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

Home minister

R. R. Patil Raosaheb Ramrao Patil, better known as R. R. Patil (16 August 1957 – 16 February 2015) was an Indian politician from the state of Maharashtra. He was an MLA for Tasgaon vidhan sabha constituency from 1991 to 2015. He was an important lea ...

saying that the two teams were co-operating with each other to uncover the truth.

References

External links

IPL Spot-Fixing Coverage on Wisden India
{{Indian Premier League 2013 in Indian cricket Spot-fixing case

Sports betting scandals