Match-fixing issue keeps people working overtime

It was an active Sunday for the scribes as well as investigative and other authorities with the match-fixing issue continuing to keep them occupied. Press conferences were held by the officials investigating the 'Hansiegate' scandal. And in an interview, former Indian player Ajay Sharma, said to be a key figure in the scam, whose proximity with bookies and a former Indian captain has landed him in trouble, once again described allegations of his involvement in the scandal as 'false.'

In a newspaper interview in England, where he is playing league cricket, Sharma said he has already declared his assets and added "I don't have more than one flat in which I am living." Sharma asked "If I had all this money and owned these cars, which I have never driven, and had two or three flats in Delhi, why would I stay away from my family for five months and play here?"

Sharma said he would appear before the CBI only on completion of his contract with the club he is currently representing. Asked about his conversations with former Indian captain Mohd. Azharuddin on the cell phone, Sharma said "I always wished Azharuddin good luck before every match and also enquired about the condition of his son, who had a surgery in India."

Meanwhile, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sources admitted that they were still in the initial stages in the match-fixing case. The authorities, for a change, were left to watch video tapes instead of cricket matches. The clandestine tapes relate to the alleged involvement of some players and officials in the match-fixing and betting allegations which the agency is looking into. The nine tapes, containing over 40 hours of secretly recorded interviews with players, board officials and others, are being viewed by the authorities.

Official sources of the CBI said it would take a day or two for the authorities to view the video tapes. The tapes are likely to be handed over to the legal cell to check the authencity and also whether they would stand in a court of law. The agency will have to see if there is a need to question all those who appear in the tapes, an official source of the agency said. He, however, clarified that the tapes do not constitute 'proof' against those involved in the scam, notwithstanding the admissibility of such tapes as evidence by courts.

In Hyderabad, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Arun Jaitley, who is also a DDCA official, refused to comment on the authencity of the tapes. When asked for his comment, Jaitley said as the matter was in at the hands of the investigation authorities, he would not like to comment.

The chairman of the Bar Council of India DV Subba Rao said that the video tapes could be relied upon if their authenticity was established and "if nothing in between is doctored". He added that "normally recorded versions do not stand legal scrutiny".

In Ahmedabad, Minister of State for Finance V Dhananjaya Kumar said that the IT department can provide the names of the beneficiary assesees under the VDS. Speaking at a press conference, the minister said "If under any circumstances the names have to be revealed to a proper authority, it is neither a breach of trust nor violation of the provisions under the VDS." He said he was unaware of the leakage of names of some cricketers who had made disclosures and added "the scheme had an in-built safety system for the beneficiaries."

Moving on with their investigations, the IT authorities said that they were still in the process of collecting the necessary material and do not want to rush with the investigations. The newly-appointed director of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Balasubramanian said "Wherever specific information of (income tax) violations are there, we will do whatever is needed. For us it is no different a case from any other.''

Replying to a question on the charges made by Additional Income Tax Commissioner Vishwa Bandhu Gupta that the department was lean towards the cricketers, Balasubramanian asked "What is his (Gupta's) locus standi? Ask him in what capacity is he talking. I say wherever we find any violation, we will act."

Meanwhile, taking the cue from India, the United Cricket Board of South African Board (UCBSA) managing director Ali Bacher announced a ban on cellular phones in dressing rooms. The announcement comes three days before the public hearing of the King Commission's inquiry appointed to look into the match fixing case in that country.