`Watertight' fixing case full of holes: Sree, Chandila, Chavan walk free
Sana Shakil
New Delhi
Dawood Link Not Proved, MCOCA Won't Apply: Court
In a judgment that raised more questions than it answered, a trial court on Saturday discharged all accused including cricketers S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing case. In an embarrassing setback for the Delhi Police, the court said the prose cution failed to establish the existence of a crime syndicate led by Dawood Ibrahim and aide Chhota Shakeel in betting and match fixing or any link of the accused to such a syndicate.
The court discharged all 36 accused who were arrested by police and slapped with MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act). However, the court said there was need for new laws under which people indulging in betting and match fixing can be convicted adding that under existing laws, this was not a criminal offence. “Even if it is accepted that there was rampant betting going on in the IPL6, but it is an activity excluded under section 12 of Public Gambling Act, and is not an offence for which any of the accused can be held liable,“ the court said.
The case had hogged headlines in 2013, when the Delhi Police said it had cracked open a major betting racket involving D Company , bookies and compromised players. The police had claimed that they had a watertight case against all the accused. The probe set in motion a chain of events that eventually led to the ouster of then BCCI chief N Srinivasan and the suspension of two IPL franchises, Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings.
Additional Sessions Judge Neena Bansal Krishna noted that Delhi police failed to establish any case under the MCOCA against any of the accused.It said a case could have been made under the Public Gambling Act, but “that also is not prima facie established.“
“Even if entire evidence of prosecution is accepted, then too it is not established that there exists a core crime syndicate of Dawood, Chhota Shakeel who have been indulging in the organized offence of betting and match fixing and also dealing with money so generated through hawala,“ the judge said in the 175-page order. The Court cannot act merely as a post office or a mouth piece of the prosecution but has to consider the broad probabilities of the case, the total effect of the evidence and the documents produced before the Court,“ the judge observed.
She further observed that if two views are possi ble and one of them gives rise to suspicion only as distinguished from grave suspicion, the trial court would be justified in discharging the accused.
Pointing out that according to the police, one Javed Chutani was the link between Dawood syndicate and the bookies, the court said “there is no evidence to establish the identity of Javed Chutani“ or his links either with Dawood or the bookies.
The special cell of the Delhi police had chargesheeted 42 accused of which six including Dawood and Chota Shakeel are absconding. The accused were chargesheeted for offences of cheating, criminal conspiracy under various IPC sections and MCOCA.
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In a shocking revelation, Bar Council of India (BCI) chairman Manan Ku mar Mishra has said 30% of all lawyers in India are fake, holding fraudulent law degrees.
Speaking at Lawyers Meet-2015, organised by BCI in Chennai on Saturday , Mishra said the council, which is statutorily empowered to discipline errant lawyers and take action against them, was in the process of weeding them out.
In BCI's estimation, about 20% of lawyers were practising in courts without valid law degrees, he said, adding that the former law minister of Delhi himself had a fake law degree. Fake lawyers and non-practising law graduates are degrading quality of the profession, Mishra said. “We will filter bad and non-practising lawyers and remove them from the rolls,“ he said.
Mishra blamed such lawyers for strikes and boycotts being seen in various courts for petty and frivolous issues. The two-time BCI chairman expressed concern that thousands of fake law certificates are being issued and thousands of lawyers, without proper degree, are practising in courts and tribunals. He said the council had embarked upon the first ever certificate verification exercise, and every enrolled member's credentials and documents submitted were being verified. “Our verification rules are being implemented in all states, except Karnataka and Kerala, where it is held up because the high courts have passed interim orders,“ Mishra said.
Reacting to Mishra's statement, former judge of the Madras high court Justice K Chandru said it will be a colossal work to verify all testimonials of all advocates.Mushrooming professional colleges have made verification of academic qualifications of practising professionals such as doctors and lawyers difficult, he told TOI.It would be good if BCI forms a committee headed by a retired judge, as full-time practising advocates may not find enough time to go through the records, with a mandate to verify all records, he said.
Mishra, in his speech, said BCI's next target will be establishing National Law Colleges, which will boast of quality better than any of the 1,000-odd law schools in the country . “By the year-end, we will establish them in all parts of the country ,“ he said.
The Legal Services Authority Act should be amended, so as to vest control of state legal services authorities with lawyers, Mishra said. As of now, the authority is not able to deliver the goods and objects are not being achieved, he said. If lawyers manage and administer legal services authority it will be more fruitful than now, he said, adding, “The issue was brought to Union law minister Sadananda Gowda's notice, and he has asked BCI to make rules for the purpose.“
But Supreme Court judge Justice V Gopala Gowda, who also spoke at the function, said legal aid scheme was working well and judges and lawyers were striving hard for its success. He found no reason to hand over the authority to lawyers.
Mishra said strikes and boycott of courts by advocates are problems of not just Tamil Nadu, as states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh too witness such protests. BCI has proposed a three-tier disputes resolution mechanism which envisages committees at district-level headed by district judges, high court-level headed by seniormost judge of the high court concerned, and the Supreme Court level.Any dispute will first go to these committees, he said, adding: “We want to resolve problems without strikes of boycotts.“
Fresh law graduates now become magistrates and they are not able to understand and adjudicate issues in front of them, Mishra said. “Earlier, we used to have a condition that two-three years of Bar experience is a must for writing civil judge examinations.The eligibility rule, however, was quashed by the Supreme Court. The council will now file a review plea before the apex court,“ he said.
Earlier, co-chairman of BCI and president of Tamil Nadu Advocates Association S Prabakaran said no age restriction should be allowed for acquiring law degrees.The Lawyers Meet 2015 was organised by BCI to discuss public litigation policy , access to justice and environmental laws.
