In a setback to the Delhi Police Special Cell, a city court on Monday granted bail to cricketers S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and 17 others in the IPL spot-fixing case, including Jiju Janardhanan and alleged "mega bookie" Ashwini Agarwal alias Tinku Mandi, says a report in Indian Express, adding that the court also rapped the police for "trying to misuse MCOCA".
The court of Additional Sessions Judge V K Khanna held that there was "no sufficient material to show the nexus" between the accused and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's organised crime syndicate — the charge under which the police had invoked MCOCA against the accused.
The accused, who are set to be released on Tuesday, have been directed to surrender their passports and join the investigation as and when required. Ajit Chandila, the third cricketer arrested in the case, has not applied for bail so far.
"Your FIR says secret information was received stating that the underworld was involved in match-fixing. Why then did you not impose MCOCA in the beginning?" asked the judge, calling for the investigation records. "Did the approving authority not apply its mind before allowing you to invoke MCOCA? Show me the material that was presented before him," he added.
According to a report in The Hindu, the police said they were yet to receive a copy of the court order granting bail to the 19 accused. “We will examine the court order and seek legal opinion before deciding further course of action. Expert opinion would also be sought to ascertain whether the grounds put forth by the police were adequately appreciated in the court.
“We have sufficient evidence to prima facie prove the complicity of the accused persons in the case. The fact that the bookies were operating in conspiracy with their underworld handlers and the cricketers facilitated or aided them warranted inclusion of Mcoca provisions in the case,” said a police officer.
The police are interrogating suspected bookie Ramesh Vyas to identify the others who were in touch with underworld dons Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel.