Delay in long verdict on BPL corruption case

The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) corruption tribunal will take extra time to complete its detailed verdict, according to Justice Khademul Islam Chowdhury, the convener of the three-member committee. The verdict was expected to be pronounced by the end of May, and BCB president Nazmul Hassan said he was worried by the delay and had been questioned by the ICC about it.

The delay is due to the process of deciding on the punishment for those who have pleaded guilty and been charged so far. One of the three who had pleaded guilty was former Bangladesh batsman Mohammad Ashraful, suspended from all cricket by the BCB since 2013.

"This is a very big case and we have done plenty of work to give out the short verdict," Khademul told the Daily Star. "We will try our best to submit the detailed verdict as soon as possible. We are working on it.

"We need to sit at court again in order to decide the kind of punishment to be given to those who have been charged and those who confessed. We have not decided a date for that, but it will be completed as soon as possible."

The short verdict was released on February 26 when one of the nine accused was found guilty. Shihab Chowdury, co-owner of the Dhaka Gladiators franchise was found guilty of "being party to an effort to fix" a match in the BPL's second edition, while Ashraful and another player had confessed to being involved in corruption in the BPL. Six others were discharged as not guilty by the tribunal.

BCB chief Hassan, however, expressed doubts about those who were found not guilty. "I am worried about the delay. The ICC asked me during the last meeting why it is taking so much time," Hassan said. "When we talked about Ashraful, they asked me how can a person who has admitted to fixing be punished but the party from whom he has taken money be discharged? I could not answer that.

"I spoke to my colleagues about the tribunal about 15-20 days ago, at which time they said it will be done in two-three weeks. I don't see any signs of it now. I will wait till May 30 and then give them [the tribunal] a letter."