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More proof needed to tighten case

Senior advocates are of the opinion that the evidence forwarded by the Delhi police in the cricket match-fixing scandal "has the potential" of bringing out the truth, and it cannot be swept under the carpet.

However, they felt, much more needs to be done for its admissibility in court.

"Look, there can be no smoke without fire. If our policemen have gone ahead with pressing the charges against Cronje and company, something is fishy; it cannot be without cause. But I think more needs to be done by the Indian authorities to make the case watertight," said senior Delhi high court advocate K. K. Gulati.

Gulati was disinclined to agree that the matter could be swept under the carpet.

"You cannot make a molehill out of a mountain. This scandal is that big. It cannot be given an indecent, hasty burial. Too much stink has already spread all around. Cricket lovers know that the malaise of money behind match-fixing is deeply rooted. There appears to be circumstantial evidence but certain aspects have to be pursued before you can authoritatively say these are our men," he pointed out.

He added: "The Delhi police would not have taken the risk of breaking an international scandal involving cricketers of the stature of Hansie Cronje."

S K Mehra, another senior advocate, contended: "Yes, the Delhi police evidence (against Cronje) can be admissible in court provided certain norms are followed as per the Supreme Court judgement. At the moment, the only evidence is the tape-recorded conversation, allegedly between Cronje and the bookies. If it is ensured that it has not been tampered with, there is no erasure or no interpolation, and the voice of Cronje is matched beyond reasonable doubt, I think there could be a watertight case."

Mehra said it is still not known what other evidence the Delhi police have. He pointed out that under the Evidence Act, whatever Rajesh Kalra, the accused, says under police custody will not be admissible in court. However, he hastened to add that his further interrogation could lead to other facts relevant to the accusations made against the accused, and these could be instrumental in yielding "positive results".

Advocate Ritu Arora said: "It is not for nothing that the Delhi police have ventured bold to investigate this alleged match-fixing case until and unless it had good reasons that its case would stand in the court of law."

She felt that the South African government, in a bid to defend Cronje, may level allegations of tampering with the tape-recording as it has already raised objections about Cronje's involvement.

Referring to former Test cricketer Manoj Prabhakar's allegation about match-fixing by certain Indian cricketers, she pointed out that former chief justice of India Y. V. Chandrachud, who conducted the inquiry then, did not do so under the Commission of Inquiry Act.

"Thus, the judge did not have all the powers to conduct the inquiry, as the result of which nothing much came out of it," she maintained.

She also underscored that the Chandrachud commission's findings were not made public and many of "the threads" not picked.

A senior official of the ministry of external affairs told rediff.com that "relentless pressure" is being mounted by the South African authorities on their Indian counterparts to soft-pedal the issue. He indicated that Delhi had already received "concrete feelers" from the South African authorities in this context.

The official felt that the present match-fixing controversy will not yield anything substantial as there is no way the allegations can be conclusively proved.

Referring to the match-fixing allegations against Pakistan cricket captain Wasim Akram, Salim Malik, Ijaz Ahmed and others, he pointed out that Pakistani judge Mohammed Qayuum had investigated the charges against them and his report, blaming certain players, too had been released. However, Akram was not only reinstated as captain but the other accused too found their way back in the national squad, he said.