Sreesanth Gets Partial Relief, Supreme Court Revokes Lifetime Ban Temporarily
The top court, in its order, also asked the BCCI to reconsider Sreesanth's plea within three months.
New Delhi, March 15: In a partial relief to S Sreesanth, the Supreme Court on Friday revoked a life ban imposed on the former bowler of India cricket team. A bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to decide afresh on the point of a quantum of punishment given to S Sreesanth. The top court, in its order, also asked the BCCI to reconsider Sreesanth's plea within three months.
The BCCI has imposed a lifetime ban on Sreesanth for his alleged involvement in match-fixing during 2013 IPL. The Supreme Court had reserved its order on February 28 as the BCCI said that Sreesanth was found guilty on all the three counts - corruption, betting and bringing disrepute to the game. In the last hearing, senior counsel Parag Tripathi, appearing for the BCCI, told the court that for corruption and betting, the punishment is a lifetime ban from the game. No Evidence Against Me, Life Ban Imposed by BCCI Unfair, Sreesanth Tells Supreme Court.
In his rejoinder arguments, senior counsel, Salman Khurshid appearing for Sreesanth said that the onus of proving the guilt was on the BCCI. He said it was for the BCCI to establish that Rs 10 lakhs had come from questionable sources for match-fixing. Referring to the taped conversation, Khurshid said it says that transaction would take place only if former cricketer concedes 14 runs in an over and that it would be off for anything less than that.
In the alleged over, where Sreesanth was to concede 14 runs, in fact, 13 runs could be scored. It has been contended against Sreesanth that there was one no ball, which would have made it to 14 runs, but it escaped the umpire's sight. Wrapping up his rejoinder arguments, Khurshid urged the court to save the career of the "young cricketer, who is not that young now, but still retains the spirit of cricket."
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 15, 2019 10:56 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).