Superme Court revoked the life ban imposed by BCCI on S Sreesanth (Reuters Photo)
HIGHLIGHTS
- The Sumpreme Court set aside Sreesanth's life ban for his alleged involvement in IPL spot-fixing scandal
- Sumpreme Court told BCCI disciplinary committee to reconsider quantum of punishment within three months
- The apex court made it clear that Sreesanth will get the opportunity of being heard
In a huge relief for S Sreesanth, the Superme Court on Friday revoked the life ban imposed on the cricketer by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and asked the board to decide afresh on the point of quantum of punishment given to him within 3 months.
A bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, asked the BCCI to reconsider its order of life ban imposed on Sreesanth following the spot-fixing scandal that rocked the Indian Premier League in 2013.
The apex court also said that its verdict shall have no effect on the criminal proceedings pending against the cricketer in the Delhi High Court, where the Delhi Police has challenged a trial court's order discharging all accused, including Sreesanth, in the IPL spot-fixing case.
The bench passed this order on Sreesanth's plea challenging the decision of a division bench of the Kerala High Court which had restored the life ban imposed on him by the BCCI.
Last month, Sreesanth told the Supreme Court that he had "stubbornly" refused to be involved in match-fixing during 2013 IPL and referred to the transcript of the recorded conversation to back his assertion.
Referring to the transcript of the recorded telephonic conversation, which says that "I am stubborn and nothing will happen", the former cricketer challenging the lifetime ban on him from playing cricket told the bench of Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice K.M. Joseph that the material relied on by the BCCI to hold him guilty was not given to him.
The former cricketer, who was banned for life for his alleged involvement in spot-fixing during 2013 IPL, had told the court in the last hearing on January 30 that the bookie tried to drag him into spot-fixing but he did not fall for it.
As senior counsel, Salman Khurshid, appearing for Sreesanth, told the bench that the report of the preliminary inquiry was not given to him, the court said that he had the report which he got from other sources.
Khurshid said that he had the report but he was not told by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which part of the report the apex cricketing body was going to rely on against him.
The court was told that at no stage the BCCI had asked him what he had to say about the alleged material including the offer of Rs 10 lakh being cited against him.
Questioning the material that was relied on against him, Sreesanth told the court: "I was charged with the most serious offence. I was convicted of the most serious offence but the standard of proof is that of the least serious offence."
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