Ajit Chandila's life ban reduced to seven years by BCCI ombudsman

Former Rajasthan Royals player Ajit Chandila's life ban from cricket has been reduced to seven years by the ombudsman of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Vineet Saran.

Ajit Chandila, along with two of his Rajasthan Royals teammates back in the IPL 2013, S Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan, were handed lifetime bans from cricket after they were accused of indulging in spot-fixing. This was the biggest scandal which had completely rocked the sixth edition of the cash-rich league and brought about a massive havoc in the functionings of the IPL as well.

BCCI issues order to reduce Ajit Chandila's life ban

As reported by the Indian Express, Vineet Saran in his official order wrote in detail about all the allegations and charges which were levied on Chandila and also the proceedings that he had to undergo, and that the ban was being reduced.

The order read, "The present matter arises out of Case Crime No 20/2013 dated 09.05.2013 registered with the Special Cell of Delhi Police against the Applicant on allegations of spot fixing in cricket matches of Indian Premier League (“IPL”).

Pending inquiry, BCCI suspended the Applicant from all cricketing activities on 17.05.2013. Apart from the criminal proceedings initiated against the Applicant, Disciplinary proceedings were also initiated against him by BCCI. 

Accordingly, the Applicant’s Representation dated 04.11.2019 is accepted and his prayer for granting him parity with Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan is allowed. The life ban imposed on him by Order of BCCI Disciplinary Committee dated 18.01.2016 is reduced to a period of seven (7) years from 18.01.2016."

Notably, Sreesanth's life ban after the 2013 scandal was also lifted by the Kerala High Court back in 2017. Justice A Muhamed Mustaque in his verdict had stated that all the allegations on the cricketer were based on circumstantial evidence and no solid proof. This move allowed Sreesanth to make a comeback to competitive cricket by representing his state Kerala in the Ranji Trophy.

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