Match fixing echoes in Parliament

There have been times when cricket has figured in Parliament. Like when the country won the World Cup in 1983. And when the country went down to ignominious defeats in England in 1974. Yes, these are the occasions when the game is discussed in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. But of course, the discussions are of a very different nature.

It was time for the game to figure in Parliament again. But this time it was not exactly the cricketers who were the centre of discussion. Match fixing allegations and Income Tax raids are now part of history and while Central Ministers have commented freely on the charges against the players and officials, at the centre of the storm on Wednesday were the comments of Jaya Jaitley, the president of the Samata Party, one of the constituents of the BJP led National Democratic Alliance government at the centre.

Agitated Opposition members hit out at the reported threats made on Tuesday by Jaya Jaitley to CBI and Income Tax officials probing charges against former Indian captain Ajay Jadeja.

Raising the issue during zero hour, Rashid Alvi, BSP, said the CBI and IT officials could not proceed with their investigation against a leading cricketer as they were threatened by Jaya Jaitley.

CPI (M) leader Somnath Chatterjee deprecated Jaitley's reported comments that ``it is my Government and I will not allow this to happen.''

Another party member Basudeb Acharia said Jaitley had utilised the Defence Minister's official residence to hold her press conference and made critical comments against Minister of State for Finance Dhananjay Kumar and Sports Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa. He said that according to the reports, she had accused the Ministers of interfering in the investigations. Samata Party member Prabhunath Singh however termed the charges as baseless.

In the din that followed, both sides traded charges against each other. RJD member Raghuvansh Prasad Singh moved to the well of the House to repeat the charges against Jaya Jaitley.

However, director general (Investigation) of Income Tax SC Parija declined to comment on charges made by Jaya Jaitley against IT officials. ``We do not want to join issue with anyone. Truth alone shall prevail,'' he said.

For his part, former MP and father of Ajay Jadeja, Daulat Singhji Jadeja denied the allegations levelled by Jaya Jaitley saying that the IT officials were very co-operative during the search operation on Tuesday. Jaitley had called a press conference in defence of Jadeja in the wake of nation-wide IT raids on his premises at New Delhi. ``I don't want to say anything about the ongoing enquires. Everything is satisfactory,'' he said.

The IT authorities on Tuesday, according to schedule, opened two bank lockers belonging to a cricketer and his associate setting in motion the process of examining contents of a large number of lockers sealed during the massive searches conducted by authorities at premises of top cricketers, administrators and bookies.

"We have started the process of opening lockers today and two out of 17 lockers sealed during searches in the Capital have been opened," Parija told media persons. He, however, refused to divulge contents of the two lockers but said "the cricketer and associate, to whom they belonged, were present when they were being opened. The presence of the person, to whom the locker belongs, is necessary as per the IT law," Parija said.

He said that Ajay Jadeja had contacted the IT department and said that he would be returning on July 30 after the match he is to play in London on July 29. Jadeja is the second cricketer, after former Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin, to contact the IT authorities. However, the officials are yet to hear from Ajay Sharma and Nikhil Chopra

Parija clarified that search at places of Azharuddin, Jadeja, Chopra and Sharma was not complete as yet and would resume after they return from abroad. "When these players enter their houses, taxmen will also accompany them and open their belongings in their presence," he said, adding "we have to confront them with every seized document." He added that the bank accounts of some bookies had been sealed.

Parija said that department had started showing seized documents to CBI, which is probing match-fixing controversy, and whatever documents they require would be given to them. He said that all the persons, whose premises had been searched and surveyed by the IT officials have been co-operative.

In the meantime, after initial spade work to collect information about cricketers' and bookies' involvement in match-fixing, a high-level two-member Central Bureau of Investigation team flew on Tuesday night to London to seek the assistance of Scotland Yard police, which is also probing into the scandal.

Sources said that the high-level team, comprising joint director of special crime division RN Sawani and his deputy, deputy inspector general of police Y P Singh, who are supervising the probe, will be staying there for a week to probe the England-link in the case.

Scotland Yard, represented by Sergeants Martin Hawkins and Hulbarid, had met CBI officials during their visit to Delhi on May 4 and handed over to them telephone numbers of bookies and cricketers, whose names had cropped up during their investigation.

And Australian batsman Mark Waugh added a new dimension to the ongoing controversy when he said in Sydney that he was willing to have his financial records scrutinised if necessary to prove he has told the truth about his dealings with an Indian bookmaker. It may be recalled that Waugh and teammate Shane Warne were fined by the Australian Cricket Board after admitting accepting money in 1994 from the bookie known as ``John'' in return for weather and pitch information.

Well, as Al Jolson said in `The Jazz Singer', the 1927 history making talkie, ``wait a minute, folks. You aint heard nothing yet.''