Spot-Fixing Scandal: Sanjeev Chawla Files Bail Plea In Delhi Court

New Delhi: Bookie Sanjeev Chawla, who was allegedly involved in a match-fixing racket related to cricket and was recently extradited to India from the UK, moved a petition for bail in the Patiala House Court in the national capital on Monday. The match fixing racket was busted by Delhi police in 2000. Chawla subsequently moved to the UK.

Sanjeev Chawla was seen as the key player in the spot fixing case of 2000 in which South African captain Hansie Cronje and other Indian former cricket stars were alleged to have been involved. Delhi Police got custody of Chawla on February 12, 2020 after going through a series of legal formalities for his extradition from the UK.

Sanjeev Chawla secured a UK passport in 2005 and became a British citizen, after his Indian passport was revoked. In 2003, two years before he got his British passport, Chawla was permitted to remain in the UK for an indefinite period of time.

The spot fixing scandal evoked widespread outrage when it exploded in April 2000 after Delhi police intercepted a conversation between Chawla and Cronje in which the captain of the South African cricket team reportedly referred to accepting money to throw away matches.

Sanjeev Chawla and Hansie Cronje were named in the charge-sheet subsequently filed by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police for fixing India-South Africa matches in India from February 16, 2000 to March 20, 2000.

Hansie Cronje died subsequently in a plane crash in 2002.