IPL scam: Court disposes of Sreesanth plea as lawyer fails to turn up

New Delhi – A Delhi court Monday disposed of a plea by cricketer S. Sreesanth, arrested for alleged spot fixing in IPL matches, seeking a copy of the first information report (FIR) registered against him.

Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Rao disposed of Sreesanth’s plea as his lawyer did not turn up in the court to pursue it.

“No one present on behalf of the applicant (Sreesanth’s advocate). The application is dismissed for non-prosecution,” the judge said.

Sreesanth, who plays for the Rajasthan Royals team in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and his colleagues Ajit Chandila and Ankit Chavan and 11 bookies were on Thursday sent to police custody till May 21.

On May 17, Sreesanth’s advocate moved an application before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Lokesh Kumar Sharma, seeking a copy of the FIR to prepare his defence.

CMM Lokesh Kumar, however, did not hold the court today and the matter was sent to another metropolitan magistrate who disposed of Sreesanth’s plea as his lawyer could not appear to argue the application.

The court earlier allowed the defence lawyers of Sreesanth to inspect a copy of the FIR.

Sreesanth’s advocate Deepak Prakash, filing the application, told the court that the accused should be told about the grounds of his arrest. Sreesanth was an international-level player and had no reasons to get involved in spot fixing, he added.

The accused were arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police from the national capital region, Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

Delhi Police arrested the three players in a post-midnight operation in Mumbai May 16 for spot fixing in IPL matches for payments of up to Rs.60 lakh just for giving away a pre-determined number of runs in an over.

The cricketers had indulged in spot fixing in at least three IPL matches as per arrangements with bookies who have underworld connections abroad, police said.