Bindra's lawyers reply to Kapil

Though early in the week the former BCCI president Bindra had said he has no evidence against the Indian coach Kapil Dev, he is in no mood for a compromise on the allegation he made against Kapil Dev. In the reply the lawyer said "My client tried to verify with (the then) cricket manager but he was not available." Ajit Wadekar was the cricket manager on that tour. Bindra's lawyer further stated in his notice that he has specifically denied the defamtion point.

Bindra had said in the interview that it was Kapil Dev who offered Rs.25 lakhs to Prabhakar to underperform in one of the matches. Bindra later said Prabhakar had named Kapil in front of PCA secretary Pandove and another independent witness in Chandigarh. It is also believed that Prabhakar had named Kapil to Union Home Minister LK Advani in front of Kirti Azad.

The excerpts of the reply sent by Bindra's lawyer to Kapil Dev's lawyers: "My client IS Bindra has greatest respect for Kapil for his cricketing abilities and has honoured him when he became the highest Test wicket-taker. However, as a person who has repeatedly worked to free the game of cricket from unhealthy practices, our client would have done the game of cricket and the cricket-loving people a great disservice had he concealed the fact of what Prabhakar had conveyed."

In the reply Bindra's Mumbai-based lawyers have stated that Bindra checked with Navjot Sidhu before naming Kapil Dev in an interview to a TV channel. It is believed that Navjot Sidhu was the room mate of Manoj Prabhakar in the 1994 Singer Cup series. Ironically none of the people involved namely Sidhu, Prabhakar, Wadekar, Pandove and Kirti Azad have either confirmed or denied Bindra's statement so far.

Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has sought clarifications from Bindra on some of the points in the document he submitted early this week. Bindra had submitted a 360 page report on May 15 containing various aspects of corruption in the game. The next day Bindra met CBI officials where he was given a questionnaire to clarify some of the points. Bindra said he has received the questionnaire based on his report and was preparing a written reply for it. The CBI is also contemplating to question Bindra after thoroughly reading the document. Apart from Bindra, former Indian team manager and DDCA offical Sunil Dev has been questioned. Manoj Prabhakar is expected to be questioned soon.