Chandila bail verdict on September 5

The Delhi court hearing Ajit Chandila's bail plea has deferred its ruling to September 5. The ruling was expected on Monday but, according to PTI, additional sessions judge Dharmesh Sharma said he first needed clarifications on some points from both Delhi Police and the defence.

During the hearing, advocate Rakesh Kumar, appearing for Chandila, told the court his client had been "falsely implicated" in the spot-fixing case and had no link with either Dawood Ibrahim or his aide Chhota Shakeel, among India's most wanted criminals. The Delhi Police, he said, had "mischievously added" provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) to their charges, so that the accused could not get bail.

Chandila's lawyer argued that police had not been able to satisfy another trial court - which had granted bail on June 10 to Sreesanth and Chavan, along with 17 others - on this count. While granting those two cricketers bail, the judge had said Delhi Police had not produced enough evidence to charge the players under MCOCA.

However, after naming the three cricketers among 39 people in a 6000-page chargesheet at the end of July, Delhi Police had lodged a plea with a Delhi trial court to cancel Sreesanth's and Chavan's bail. The two were then issued bail notices by the court, and would have to respond, giving reasons as to why their bail should stand; it was understood then that the investigation had progressed to a point where the police believe the MCOCA law can be invoked.