A Tamil Nadu court probing the 2013 IPL betting and spot-fixing case has slammed the investigating agency - TN police’s CB-CID - and has also ordered further investigation after finding faults in their probe.
“Such kind of investigation is liable to be deprecated,” the XI Metropolitan Magistrate S Prakash’s order was quoted in The Hindu’s report by S Vijaykumar.
Former BCCI president N Srinivasan's son-in-law and owner of the suspended IPL franchisee-Chennai Super Kings Gurunath Meiyappan was among the high-profile accused in the case.
The scam led to the suspension of CSK and Rajasthan Royals for two years from the cash-rich Indian Premiere League.
In its final report, the CB-CID had not mentioned anything to do with more serious charges of “conspiracy” and “cheating”. Instead, they stuck to only probing the offence of betting, reported The Hindu.
The Hindu report said the investigation agency did not clarify on the allegations of inside information being passed to bookies and had faced criticism from the court in 2016 too.
The court had sought an explanation on how evidence such as text messages and phone call records between Meiyappan and other accused were not probed.
“The cell phone tower locations can be ascertained easily from the service providers. By analysing those particulars, the Investigation Officer can easily form an opinion about the conduct and reasons behind those calls/SMS. This not a regular conventional crime and it is something peculiar and requires deep analysis,” S Prakash said.
“In short, a defective chargesheet cannot be allowed to face the trial…Moreover, this court cannot be a silent spectator in situations when it necessarily warrants judicial intervention,” the Magistrate added.
The scam which was unearthed by Tamil Nadu's 'Q' Branch accidentally while investigating a fake passport racket in Chennai was transferred to the CB-CID, as there were allegations against IPS officers of the Q branch as well.
Sampath Kumar, an IPS officer, was suspended after he allegedly received Rs 53 lakh from a bookie, and reportedly returned Rs 30 lakh to the CB-CID.