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Rajasthan Royals And CSK to be terminated From IPL - Spot-Fixing Scandal
Writing about Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra’s sudden descent into controversy, Firstpost’s Sandip Roy writes:
The truth is like the other Bollywood star turned team owners, Shilpa Shetty used her Bolly-glamour to add oomph to her team’s profile when the going was good. Stars don’t just happen to own IPL teams. They are supposed to lend their glamour to those teams and provide them with Bolly razzle-dazzle. And they take full advantage of the insatiable celebrity appetite of a starstruck public and a star-hungry media. A celebrity is always good news fodder. A celebrity getting knocked off the pedestal is even better news fodder.
9.32 am: Rajasthan Royals to be shown the door from IPL?
According to a report on Hindustan Times, while owner Raj Kundra might be let off with a small fine if the betting charges against him are proved, the establishment of his association with the spot-fixing scandal could have adverse effects on the future of Rajasthan Royals in IPL. HT reports:
Kundra’s act has put the very existence of his team, Rajasthan Royals, in danger. In the BCCI-IPL contract, clause 11.3 (c) of the franchise agreement states that a franchise may be terminated with immediate effect if “the franchisee, any franchisee group company and/or any owner acts in any way which has a material adverse effect upon the reputation or standing of the league, BCCI-IPL, BCCI, the franchisee, the team (or any other team in the league) and/or the game of cricket.”
Simultaneously, Chennai Super Kings could face the heat too with similar charges being levelled against Gurunath Meiyappan. HT reports: “If Royals go, the action on CSK will depend on the scrutiny of their franchisee agreement with the BCCI-IPL.”
End of updates from 6 June.
10.19 pm: Raj Kundra says don’t misconstrue silence for guilt
Raj Kundra has said that he is soon going to make a statement about his involvement in betting in the IPL and also added that one should not misconstrue his silence for guilt.
7.08pm BCCI’s interim president Jagmohan Dalmiya press conference
“BCCI has appointed Sanjay Patel from Baroda Cricket Association as honorary secretary. There is one more vacancy which we will fill up in two days,” Dalmiya said.
Referring to the three-man commission to probe the IPL betting and spot-fixing allegations, he said, “The commission will now have two retired judges to probe the betting and spot-fixing in IPL.” This means there will be no replacement for Sanjay Jagdale, who was a part of the committee earlier.
The BCCI interim president said that the betting allegations against Rajasthan Royals promoter will come up in the next Working Committee meeting.
“Raj Kundra issue will be discussed in the Working Committee. The Working Committee meeting will be held on 10 June at 11 am in New Delhi. We will look into the details and if it demand any strict action we will look into the matter,” he said.
Answering to a query on legalizing betting, Dalmiya said, “Let us first deal with this. This is far-fetched and premature as of now.”
6:15 pm: Welcome new law to curb match fixing, says Kumar
“A new law is welcome and would make things simpler for the police…There is a very strong campaign for legalised betting but according to me that will not solve the problem,” Kumar said.
He pointed out that the betting would not be carried out except using black money.
We spoke to Goenka and then Raj Kundra and the duo had made identical statements, Kumar said. He, however, refused to speak about the amount that had been bet.
Kundra’s passport had been retained in order to continue the probe further in the matter, he said.
“It is premature to say whether I am giving him a clean chit or not…” Kumar said. But when pressed the Rajasthan Royals co-owner wasn’t off the hook just yet.
6:12 pm: No evidence to show Kundra made any player under-perform, says Delhi police chief
The Delhi Police chief said that there was no reason for a co-ordinated probe against Kundra since they were completely different cases.
He, however, did not rule out giving the information they had to authorities to investigate allegations of money laundering against Kundra.
“As of now there is no evidence to show that Kundra has influenced any player to underperform,” Kumar said.
You can never tell how things go though, the police chief said.
He also said they were not obliged to inform the media what their next step in the investigations would be, especially whether they would call actor Shilpa Shetty for questioning.
“Merely disclosures made to the police is not enough evidence to go against anybody,” Kumar said.
6:10 pm: No evidence against Kundra, says Delhi Police chief
The Delhi Police chief has said there is no evidence against Raj Kundra in the IPL spot fixing case and since he had confessed voluntarily, they had no other evidence against him.
“Supposing we had him on tape while making a bet or making a transaction and we had recovered the money then it was a different matter. Here is a situation where he come to us and confessed. It is not admissible in a court of law,” the Delhi police chief told CNN-IBN.
“If we had something more like in case of Sreesanth then it would be a different matter,” Kumar said.
The police chief said there was no question of applying the Gambling Act since it was a ‘weak act’ and their case was purely to do with spot-fixing.
5:55 pm: Shilpa Shetty says she has ‘never bet on any cricket match ever’
After her tweets in the morning criticising the media, actor Shilpa Shetty has tweeted a few more times following the new claims and has said that she has never bet on a cricket match and that she and her husband were involved in the IPL because of their love for the game.
5:45 pm: Delhi cops say Kundra lost Rs one crore over last three years in betting
PTI is now reporting that Raj Kundra may have lost upto Rs one crore during the last three years while betting on IPL matches.
And for all you Shilpa Shetty fans, its confirmed yet again that she may have been involved in the betting.
The Delhi Police isn’t saying though whether they will be calling in the actor for questioning.
5:25 pm: Delhi cops say Kundra may have been betting on IPL matches over last two-three years
A senior police official told CNN-IBN that Kundra and bookie Umesh Goenka had been betting for ”the last 2 to 3 years” on IPL matches.
When asked why Kundra had been allowed to leave despite his involvement in betting, Special Police Commissioner SN Srivastava told CNN-IBN, “Our focus of this case is fixing and not on betting. At this stage, the evidence we have against RK and Goenka is that of betting. We are still in the process of collecting more evidence. And we’ll take a call as we proceed.”
Srivastava said that during interrogation it had emerged that besides matches involving Rajasthan Royals, Kundra had also placed bets on matches involving other teams.
“We’d like to ensure that we’re on a good, firm ground and then proceed,” Srivastava said, adding that they would be verifying the claims made by Kundra during the interrogation.
What this means for the Mumbai Police isn’t clear given that their probe is entirely to do with illegal betting. Will they be questioning Kundra and his wife in connection with the bets placed on IPL games? So far they’ve remained mum.
4.25 pm: Chavan applies for bail
Newly-wed Ankeet Chavan, who has surrendered to Delhi court today after he was given bail to get married on 2 June, has now made a fresh application for bail. The hearing is on Friday i.e. 7 June.
Chavan flew from Mumbai to Delhi today as his conditional bail to get married ends today.
3:10 pm: Will BCCI terminate agreement with Royals?
The BCCI has reportedly said that they have taken cognisance of the statements made by the Delhi police commissioner regarding Rajasthan Royals owner Raj Kundra being involved in illegal betting, reported CNN-IBN.
Following the admission, the BCCI could call for an emergent working committee meeting where it will discuss the allegations against Kundra and whether it is in violation of the IPL agreement with franchise owners.
If the franchise is deemed to have acted in a manner that has an adverse effect on the reputation of the league or the team, the agreement with them could be terminated, said the sources.
Whether the BCCI will go by purely the Delhi police chief’s statements remains in doubt for now but if the cops are able to provide sufficient evidence to the cricket body, the Royals may just have played their last edition of the IPL .
3:00 pm: Was Shilpa Shetty also betting on team?
And now sources have reportedly told one channel that actor Shilpa Shetty had been betting on the team:
2:50 pm: Cops say they won’t arrest Kundra unless evidence found of spot fixing
The Delhi police has told CNN-IBN that they won’t arrest Kundra unless they find evidence that Raj Kundra is involved in the match fixing that the three Rajasthan Royals’ players and bookies have been arrested for.
Kundra being a UK national won’t affect the probe, the police said. However, whether the Mumbai police will swoop down on Kundra for his involvement in illegal betting remains to be seen.
The cops have also said they will assist the BCCI and are willing to give them all their findings. Wait, didn’t the BCCI say just yesterday that it had completed its probe into the spot-fixing?
2:20 pm : Jaywant Lele asks what the need was for Kundra to indulge in betting
1.20 pm: Delhi Police confirm that Kundra was betting on his own team
Delhi Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar confirmed to the media that Raj Kundra made bets on Rajasthan Royals: “He (Kundra) admitted to betting on his own team. We have also found out that he suffered significant losses while betting. All his bets happened via (Umesh) Goenka, who is a bookie,” he said.
11.28 am: Kundra admits to betting – reports
The latest media reports quoting police sources are saying that Raj Kundra has admitted to betting, but not fixing.
According to Times Now, Kundra had reportedly told Delhi police that if he had been involved in fixing, he would not have lost large sums of money, and that he had proof to back his claim.
10. 45 am: Did Raj Kundra place bets during IPL?
Delhi Police are probing whether Rajasthan Royals owner Raj Kundra had placed bets during the IPL tournament, reports Times Now.
Questions are being raised about Kundra’s business partner Umesh Goenka, who was allegedly taking information from on Kundra’s behalf, the channel reported.
Meanwhile, ABP News have tweeted that according to sources, Kundra has accepted that we has indulged in betting, but not fixing.
Raj Kundra accepts that he was indulged in betting but not fixing : Sources— ABP News (@abpnewstv) June 6, 2013
Raj Kundra: Image from BCCI
9.30 am: Police confiscate passport of RR co-owner Raj Kundra
Delhi police have seized Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra’s passport, and have reportedly not ruled out the possibility of his arrest. Kundra was questioned for 12 hours on Wednesday and initial reports indicated that he would be made a prosecution witness in the spot-fixing case against three Rajasthan Royals players and a number of bookies.
However post the questioning it emerged that Kundra was also possibly under the scanner
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