Trivedi had been approached… but he failed to report: Ravi Sawani report

The next day they went to Delhi for shopping and visited the DLF Promenade Mall. Deepak was also at the Mall,to meet Chandila. Later Trivedi,his wife and Chandila purchased perfumes and the bills were paid by Chandila.

In 2012 around Feb/March Trivedi had invited Chandila to represent his father’s academy team in a local tournament. Trivedi arranged for his stay at Ramanda Hotel in Ahmedabad and on the occasion of Trivedi’s dad’s birthday,he invited Chandila home and when Trivedi dropped Chandila back to the hotel,Chandila invited him up to his room. There,he found Sunil Bhatia (known bookie) already present. Immediately,Sunil talked about fixing matches. Also Read: I am fully convinced that Sreesanth was part of the fix

According to Trivedi he was taken by surprise and questioned Chandila about Sunil’s behaviour. Chandila told Trivedi to forget it. After a day or two,Trivedi paid around Rs 5000 for the hotel rooms occupied by Chandila. A day later Chandila paid Trivedi Rs 50,000 for expenses stating that they would settle the account later.

When Trivedi was queried about intelligence available with the ICC ACSU that he had made purchases which were paid for by Sunil Bhatia,he said that in IPL 2012 at the Maurya Sheraton in Delhi,Trivedi had asked Chandila if he knew where he could get Oakley shades. Chandila took him to his friend’s shop in Khan Market and again,Chandila did not allow him to pay. Sunil Bhaita along with Chandila’s relative Subhash were also present at the shop.

TV STING ALARMS

According to Trivedi during IPL 2012,he was approached by people posing as sports company representatives and asked him to be on their pay rolls. However,he refused,later learning that it was part of the India TV sting operation. After the expose he told Chandila that he did not want to be part of any fix and returned Rs 2.5 lakh to Chandila. Meanwhile,Amit Singh also demanded to return his money. Trivedi gave him back the Rs 1 lakh.

During IPL 2013,Sunil Bhatia also called him to his room in Marriot,Jaipur. He told him that Chandila was avoiding him and that if Chandila did not return his money he would be harmed. Trivedi then spoke to Chandila about it but the latter told him he would handle the issue.

During IPL 2012,Umesh Goenka who was a known friend of Raj Kundra (Team Principal of Rajasthan Royals) called Siddharth Trivedi on his mobile and enquired about the pitch and team composition. However,Trivedi did not give him any information stating he was busy.

Trivedi admitted he had been educated by ICC ACSU prior to every IPL but did not inform about the purchases and offers because he believed that since he had done nothing wrong he need not unnecessarily get into trouble. According to Trivedi,he was never aware that the persons he met were disreputable or fixers.

However,according to statements of Amit Singh and also Trivedi’s own,there is evidence to suggest that Trivedi was fully aware of the persons he was dealing with. He is 30 years old and quite capable of comprehending why people were buying him gifts and gifitng enormous sums of money.

He already admitted that despite Tommy’s proposal to fix matches,he accepted Rs. 1 Lakh,though he later claims to have returned it. Trivedi also admits that Sunil Bhatia made clear references to match fixing and right after,he received Rs. 50,000 from Chandila for unexplained expenses. It is not a matter of coincidence that when Trivedi and Chandila go to Khan Market,the fixers meet them there and he doesn’t pay.

There is no direct evidence to suggest Trivedi had agreed to fix,but there is no doubt he had been approached and in spite of the ACSU education,he failed to report it. It is immaterial that the amount was later returned. The fact remains that Trivedi failed to report the receipt,clearly knowing the people and the purpose. I am therefore of the opinion that Trivedi is guilty of the offences under Article 2.4.1,2.4.2 and 2.4.3 of the BCCI Anti-Corruption Code.