India Supreme Court rejects bid to halt IPL

Published May 21, 2013
Fans protest against the players allegedly involved in spot fixing. -Photo by AFP
Fans protest against the players allegedly involved in spot fixing. -Photo by AFP

NEW DELHI: India's Supreme Court dismissed a petition on Tuesday seeking to scrap the remaining matches of the country's lucrative Twenty20 cricket competition amid growing concerns about corruption in sport.

Former test bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and two other players were arrested along with 11 bookmakers on Thursday on suspicion of spot-fixing in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The case has prompted the Indian government to look at the possibility of introducing a law to combat matchfixing and spot-fixing.

Cricket fan and social activist Sudarsh Awasti lodged the petition demanding the scrapping of the remaining four IPL matches, including Sunday's final, but the apex court said the competition would go on as scheduled.

The court also asked the Indian cricket board to submit a report within two weeks with details of the players' involvement in the scandal and what action were being taken against them.

Cricket is a gentlemen's game and it should remain so, the court observed.

Awasti also wanted a special investigation to get to the bottom of the spot-fixing scandal and for the league to be banned from next year but the court found no merit in his demands.

Legal sports betting in India is confined to horse racing while illegal betting syndicates thrive in the absence of a law dealing specifically with such corruption in sport.

Media estimates put the amount gambled on India's top cricket Twenty20 competition at $427 million in 2009.

Opinion

Editorial

Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...
Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...