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Kerala HC lifts life ban on bowler Sreesanth imposed by BCCI
Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Monday lifted the life ban imposed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on discarded Indian pacer S. Sreesanth.
Sreesanth had approached the court last year after the BCCI failed to revoke the life ban though he was exonerated by a Delhi court of the charge of involvement in a spot-fixing scandal, which marred the Indian Premier League in 2013.
Sreesanth had to cool his heels in Tihar Central Jail in Delhi in May 2013 in the case. He was arrested by the Delhi Police in Mumbai on May 17 that year along with former Rajasthan Royals teammates Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan.
The BCCI’s Disciplinary Committee headed by present Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had slapped a life-time ban on Sreesanth and Chavan on September 13, 2013.
Sreesanth was present in the High Court when it gave the verdict, and asserted that he is noew determined kick-start his cricket career.
“I am thankful to all who stood with me in my period of distress. Now I will have to display my match fitness. I have a few club tournaments that are coming up. I will use these matches to regain my fitness. Once I prove my worth, then I will aim for selection to the Kerala team,” the 34-year-old said.
“Right now I am not thinking of getting selected to the Indian team, as I have to regain my fitness,” he said, adding “I want to thank all the people who stood with me.”
Sreesanth’s wife Bhuvneshwari Kumari said they are deeply thankful to the people of Kerala who stood by the pacer while he was going through difficult times.
“He is 34 years old now. He has been out of the game for a very long time. I am sure he will come back quickly to the game,” she said.
Relief for Sreesanth after Kerala HC lifts life ban imposed by BCCI:
His mother thanked the God for the positive verdict and said this was what they were all waiting for long to hear.
His counsel Sivan Madethil told the media that the court while lifting the ban pointed out that the BCCI did not do a clean job by enforcing a life ban on the bowler.
“There was no iota of evidence against Sreesanth, and the BCCI by slapping a life ban was callous, ruining the career of a player,” Madethil said.
Sreesanth wrote a letter to the BCCI last year, asking it to revoke his ban. In reply, the BCCI wrote that it is very particular in ensuring that discipline is maintained and that there was nothing on record to change its earlier decision to ban the bowler from cricket for life.
In 2015, the pacer along with Chandila and Chavan was exonerated by a Delhi court in the case registered by the Delhi Police which invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) go try him.
BCCI Vice President and former President of the Kerala Cricket Association T.C. Mathew welcomed the Kerala High Court verdict.
“The court is the final word, and this will have to be implemented by the BCCI. The KCA should ensure that Sreesanth is given the opportunity to take part in selections,” Mathew said.
Sreesanth is the second Keralite to represent the Indian cricket team. During his brief career, he has played in 27 Tests taking 87 wickets, and picked up 75 scalps from 53 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and seven wickets from 10 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is).
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The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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