CBI says it stands by its report
Onkar Singh
The Central Bureau of Investigation, which conducted
an inquiry into allegations of match-fixing in Indian cricket and subsequently submitted a comprehensive report
The CBI in its report criticised the functioning of the BCCI and held it responsible for not acting in time to prevent match-fixing in the game. The BCCI however objected to the
findings and asked the sports minister to give it some time so that a point by point rebuttal to the charges could be made. The board even released a 56-page report pointing out what it said are glaring discrepancies in the CBI report.
"We have seen the report and we stand by the figures quoted by us in our
report, particularly those which have been disputed by
the BCCI in its leaflet. We had quoted the figures
from the annual report of the BCCI which was made
available to us by the secretary of the board through
post. Though the report reached us after we had
submitted our findings but there was no discrepancy in
our figures because they tallied with the figures
mentioned in the annual report.
"We had said that the
total guarantee money received by the board was to the
tune of Rs 1.5 crore, whereas the board in its leaflet
has claimed that the money was Rs 10.50 crore. In our
report we are talking of just the guarantee money whereas the board in its figures has included the
money received from the sponsors of logo, net profit
etc. As far as we are concerned we stand by the
report and the figures given by us.
"As regards the comments made by some individuals about the CBI and
whether we were right in our judgement while passing
comments about transparency in the board's functioning
etc, we would not like to join issues with the BCCI
because these comments are subjective in nature and
can vary from individual to individual," a top
official of the agency told rediff.com.
When asked to comment specifically on the statements
of BCCI vice-president Kamal Morarka, that the CBI
is more corrupt than corruption in the game, and the CBI report reads like a prostitute's diary, the
official said the first comment was an "unfortunate
statement". He however refused to say anything about
the second statement saying that he would not like to
stoop so low on the matter.
Sources in the CBI confirmed that a three-member
investigating team of the International Cricket
Council had visited the agency's headquarters in Delhi on Monday and held discussions with some officials vis-a-vis the involvement of foreign players in
the match-fixing episode.
"They were here with us for more than an hour-and-half and discussed the
involvement of foreign players. We told them
whatever we knew about it," said the source.
Mail Cricket Editor