CBI approaches IT Dept, may re-examine Sidhu, Wadekar

There may be some action on the match-fixing front in other countries, but in India, there seems to be definite lull - at least temporarily. The Indian team management seems to have maintained the stand that silence is golden on the allegations. But for once there was some reaction when the Indian captain Sourav Ganguly made a rare statement.

In an interview to an Indian newspaper, Ganguly said he does not believe the allegations levelled against coach Kapil Dev. When asked to express his views on the allegations by Manoj Prabhakar against Kapil, Ganguly said "frankly speaking, I don't believe these allegations. For me allegations without the support of adequate proof are simply valueless. I don't believe it."

Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) who are involved in the probe said they are still in the process of collecting information and have made some progress in the case.

It was also reported by agency sources that the CBI would soon reexamine former Indian team manager Ajit Wadekar and former Indian opener and commentator Navjot Sidhu in the wake of the 90 minute deposition made by Manoj Prabhakar on May 27.

News agency sources quoted an Income Tax source that the IT authorities were approached by the CBI on Thursday, asking them to furnish details of the income and assets of some of the cricketers and bookies allegedly involved in the match-fixing controversy according to the returns filed by them.

Earlier, Sidhu and Wadekar had in their deposition before the agency, denied that they were aware of allegations made by Prabhakar that Kapil Dev had offered him Rs 25 lakh to under perform in a match against Pakistan in a triangular series in Sri Lanka. Sidhu was the room mate of Prabhakar during the series and was said to be present when the offer was made. The CBI will also shortly examine others including former skippers Mohd Azharuddin, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri, the sources said.

On Wednesday, the agency which is collecting information found it hard to convert the available material into evidence. It is all still pretty 'vague' said an official. The CBI officials said they are waiting for the video tapes which are supposed to be handed over to them by Manoj Prabhakar.

In an interview to a TV channel, the CBI director RK Raghavan has said that the agency was not willing to a time-frame for the investigations as suggested by politicians and some players. He said if there was a deadline, it is possible the CBI may make ``mistakes in the investigation." The CBI which has so far examined some former cricketers and administrators, have started probing prominent bookies in the major metros.

Reacting to an interview given by the Additional Commissioner of Income Tax Vishwa Bandhu Gupta, the Punjab and Haryana High Courts have issued a suo-moto notice and said Gupta "should be prepared to act" against players involved in the match-fixing. The High Court has issued notices to the Union of India and the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the director of Income Tax (investigation wing), besides the director general of Income Tax (investigation), "in order to find the truth."

In his observation, Justice Mehtab Singh Gill said "a very senior officer Vishwa Bandhu Gupta, on a live telecast programme on Jain TV stated that the match-fixing scandal be probed by the Income Tax department and the Enforcement Directorate.'' Gupta further wondered how with so much immovable properties, they could go scot free.

In the news report, Gupta was quoted as saying "more than Rs 30,000 crores of black-money was involved in match-fixing and betting." Gupta said he was surprised that no was raid against the players. He said "during the past 20 years not even a single raid had been carried out by the Income Tax Department on any of the cricketers." He added "the department had a long list of players who had allegedly amassed assets, both movable and immovable, disproportionate to their known sources of income but no action had been taken."

Meawhile, the Delhi Police have informed the Delhi High Court that it would decide on filing a chargesheet against former South African captain Hansie Cronje, four of Cronje's teamamtes and three others. The decision would be taken only after getting a response to a letter sent to various countries. This was in a reply to Justice RS Sodhi's question on when the chargesheet would be filed, government counsel SS Gandhi said "We have received the report from the Interpol and the letters rogatory have been sent to various countries."