Supreme Court to hear Sreesanth's plea on a ban

Tainted former India cricketer S Sreesanth will have another shot at redemption when Supreme Court of India hears his plea in the third week of January. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had imposed a life ban on the former pacer for his involvement in match-fixing during the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2013.

In September 2013, BCCI’s disciplinary committee had banned Sreesanth along with two other Rajasthan players Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan for the fixing scandal. However, a couple of years later he was given a clean chit by a Delhi trial court due to insufficient evidence under the MCOCA act. The act was a special law passed by the Maharashtra state government to tackle organised crime syndicates and terrorism.

However, the BCCI has been adamant on not lifting the ban. The Indian cricket board justified its decision and remained firm on the original stand. Consequently, Sreesanth has not returned to the field since and cannot play professional cricket.

In fact, the BCCI had also declined to give him a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) to play outside India. Last year, he had received an offer from a Scottish club. However, the BCCI did not give him the NOC and Sreesanth’s dream of returning to competitive game shattered.

All eyes on Supreme Court now

With hopes in his eyes, Sreesanth would be desperately hoping that Supreme Court changes his fortunes next month.  A Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and Hemant Gupta heard Senior Advocate Salman Khurshid who represented the former India cricketer.

Khurshid called for a quick judgement by saying that his client is already 35 years old and is losing his playing years. The advocate also pointed out that Sreesanth received harsh treatment as none of the other players involved in the scandal received life bans.

“He cannot even play local club cricket because of this ban. He has offers from clubs in UK,” submitted Khurshid.

In reply, the Supreme Court bench said that it will hear to the case in length in the third week of January.

~Written by Bijoy

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