Of Sreesanth, DDCA & mocking the law

The Indian public has simply stopped taking the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and some errant cricketers seriously. Just see the case of former India speedster S Sreesanth who has all but sneeringly walked back into the cricket field armed with Kerala High Court's order to revoke the lifetime ban on him.

It seems it is just a matter of time that he dries his sweat with the towel tucked in his trousers and starts breathing easy. BCCI, I understand, has decided to approach the Kerala High Court against its order to revoke the ban on him, which means it may take a little while longer for Sreesanth to get back onto the cricket field.

However, no one has any illusion that he will be finally cleared. The case itself was made so weak right from the beginning.

All that despite the grand events leading up to his arrest and incarceration that had been televised several times, ever since he was arrested by the Delhi police in Mumbai on the night of May 16, 2013 for his alleged involvement in spot-fixing during the IPL.

I have a bigger issue, but on another plane.

I had been raising the stink about corruption in Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) about which I had given tons of proof to Delhi Police. Despite meeting the Commissioner of Police (CP) of that time, Neeraj Kumar, several times, I realised that the police was very reluctant to move even an inch forward.

Kumar is the same person who did everything possible to put the DDCA cases in cold storage. While I was extremely annoyed with his dilly-dallying, I could understand that he was under intense pressure from powerful vested interests who did not want the truth about large scale fraud in DDCA to come out in public.

While Kumar kept tom-tomming about the foolproof case Delhi Police had against Sreesanth, the public found it fishy when they saw the same top police boss become head of BCCI's Anti Corruption-Unit (ACU) immediately after laying down his office in Delhi.

And, what did we see next? The so-called watertight case against Sreesanth was thrown out by a lower court judge.

Just before he retired, I wrote a lengthy letter to Kumar and a few excerpts of that letter dated June 30, 2013, I wish to quote: "Look at the startling revelations made by Delhi Police in the match-fixing scandal. The entire public despite all their disenchantment with the Delhi Police rallied around them, and the minute by minute tales including the salacious stuff about women being used as escorts were bandied about. It seemed that the 1999 failed investigations would not be repeated."

But, what is the result of the entire issue --- a big zero.

The common perception is that Delhi Police wanted the Nirbhaya case to be pushed back in the recesses of public memory and brought out the match-fixing case.

The case, it now seems, is a dud, and is falling in the Court. So, all the hype is coming unstuck, and we are back to what we have been describing Delhi Police --- a force which has very little talent, and cannot ensure many convictions."

Not surprisingly, the same officers keep shuttling from one important office to another. The current Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the same man who had slept over criminal cases against important DDCA office-bearers when he was the Delhi's CP till earlier this year.

I have been keeping my struggle going for a decade to cleanse sports in general and cricket in particular. Various reports have vindicated my charges against DDCA and the latest forensic report has also confirmed large scale fraud. I will certainly go to the Hon'ble Supreme Court with the findings and would hope that the concerned people who were responsible for the safekeeping of public funds are brought to book.

I shall demand a Court monitored CBI inquiry since they have sat over bagful of proof about wrongdoing in DDCA for close to two years after filing a PE.

And, I assure you that I will be arraying as accused at least five past and present Delhi CPs, accusing them of negligence of duty and worse, collusion in covering up serious charges. For the sake of the young cricketers who have been disgusted with the ugly shenanigans in Delhi cricket, I promise not to throw in the towel.

As to Sreesanth, he should be reasonably confident that nothing will happen to him, since Delhi Police has prepared a very weak case. It may take him a few years, but he can always think of a long-term career with BCCI. He can easily clean the sweat on his face with his towel.