Azhar, Sharma may be prosecuted under PCA

After the 162-page CBI report into betting and match-fixing was made public by the Government on Tuesday, Achari said prosecution of Azhar, who is Chief Manager and PRO with public sector State Bank of India, and Sharma, employed with the Central Warehousing Corporation, is not ruled out but would much depend on further evidence the agency is able to gather.

Achari, who was in-charge of the investigations into the match-fixing scandal, said: "We will pursue the case against the two players under PCA and we will not allow the matter to rest."

"We are gathering more evidence against these two players and are waiting for more inputs from Income Tax Authorities," he said adding "at some stage we may call them for further questioning, though not for the time being".

Asked whether it would result in filing of an FIR, he said that would depend on the evaluation of the total evidence gathered and "if the case becomes worth pursuing in a court of law".

However, Achari expressed the CBI’s inability to proceed against others named in its report – Ajay Jadeja, Nayan Mongia, Manoj Prabhakar and former physiotherapist Ali Irani – saying the cases against them were time barred.

The Gambling (Prohibition) Act provides a time limit of six months from the date of commission of the offence for the investigating agency to register a case.

On continuance of the probe in the match-fixing case, he said the CBI would now have a "restricted role" due to limitation period barrier.

Asked whether there was any political pressure on the investigating agency during the probe, Achari said: "We had a free hand and there was no political pressure on us at all."

Asked whether transfer of huge sums of foreign exchange, including through hawala channel, by bookies constituted an offence under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), Achari said: "It is for the Enforcement Directorate to consider whether such a case is made out against the bookies."

The CBI had referred its probe report to former Supreme Court Judge Justice M K Mukherjee and Solicitor General Harish Salve to get their expert legal opinion on "whether the facts disclosed in the inquiry are sufficient to institute a case for any criminal offence".

Though Justice Mukherjee ruled out a case of cheating against the players, on Azharuddin and Sharma, he said: "The two players may be said to have committed offences under section 13(1(D)(I) of Prevention of Corruption Act."

"The two players may also be proceeded against under Section 13(1)(E) of the Act if and when sufficient materials are collected to fulfil the requirements there of (sections of PCA)," Justice Mukherjee said.

Considering the provisions of Indian Penal Code specially "cheating", Justice Mukherjee said: "it is difficult to hold, on the basis of materials collected during inquiry, that a case of cheating has been made out."

Ruling out booking of players on the charge of cheating, the former Supreme Court judge said: "However reprehensible the conduct of the players concerned may be, it cannot be brought within the parameters of `cheating’ as defined in the (Indian Penal) Code."

The CBI said, technically, cases under PCA could be registered against Azharuddin and Sharma but added: "Looking at the issue in totality, the question of registration of a case under sections 13(1)(D)(I) and (iii) (criminal misconduct) is under evaluation".

Reproducing the legal opinions, the CBI report said "thus, from the opinions, it is evident that, the facts disclosed in the inquiry do not constitute any offence under the provisions of IPC or Gambling Act."

Regarding case against players under disproportionateassets, the investigating agency clarified that "the CBI inquired only into the issue of match-fixing and related malpractices and did not conduct detailed investigations into the assets of the players."

"However, relevant information available with CBI was shared with the Income Tax Authorities for appropriate action," the probe report said.

CBI said the report was discussed in detail with theSolicitor General Harish Salve "who has scanned the evidence and is in broad agreement that no criminal charges under cheating or the Gambling Act can be filed against anyone because of nebulous position of law in this regard."

Salve also felt that there was no point in proceedingaginst the players due to "improbability of investigating agency being able to obtain sufficient legal evidence."

The report also clearly stated that the BCCI appointed selectors, physiotherapists and coaches for the Indian Cricket team in an arbitrary manner.