Process of justice must be expedited

The placid surface of cricket has been disturbed ever since the match fixing scandal burst open on an unsuspecting public in April. But the impact of the CBI report is like an ocean heaving after a storm. The cynics who possibly expected another docile document along the lines of the anti climactic Chandrachud report have been shocked into disbelief by the sensational contents of the CBI report. Even those who expected something substantial would not have bargained for the kind of bombshell that it has exploded. There had been misgivings, following the confusing utterances of government officials and the subsequent delay in the release of the report, that the CBI report would be a damp squib. What has exploded is one cracker of a report.

The question is, what now? As the Indian Sports Minister has said the future course of action would depend on the advice of the Ministries of Law and Home. ``I have sought the views of the two ministries and will initiate action only after I get their views,'' he has said. He did not commit himself on the nature of action against the indicted players. Significantly though, he has also summoned the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India AC Muthiah for a meeting in New Delhi on November 3. Of course this may also be because of the fact that the CBI has come down heavily on the functioning of the BCCI. But there is little doubt that both the government and the board are keen to take action against the indicted players.

Muthiah has already said that players found guilty of match fixing could face a life ban. The BCCI code of conduct, adopted in the wake of the scandal, has a clause which permits the board to ban a player for life. Dhindsa for his part has always maintained that the guilty would be punished and innocent would not be slandered. But to make matters absolutely safe, he is also seeking legal opinion on what action can be taken against the indicted players. One thing is sure. The guilty must be punished for otherwise there will be no end to the cancer that has now spread around the world.

In fact, because of this, the issue has become more complicated than initially thought. There were reports that some foreign players would be named but none could have bargained for the sensational disclosures. The names that have emerged are virtually a world XI. Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva from Sri Lanka, Brian Lara from West Indies, Alec Stewart from England, Martin Crowe from New Zealand, Salim Malik and Asif Iqbal from Pakistan, Hansie Cronje from South Africa, Dean Jones and Mark Waugh from Australia are all allegedly involved, according to the CBI report, in one way or another. Naturally enough, there have been strong protests and denials from either these players or their cricket boards. But then of course it is worth recalling that Cronje too initially denied any involvement in match fixing and South African cricket chief Ali Bacher pooh-poohed the charges. So of course too did the Indian players when they were first accused.

The CBI report marks a major turning point in the scandal. It is time now for the authorities to swing into action. They have to strike now and muzzle the scandal once and for all. They can no longer plead that they don't have enough material evidence. Admittedly there will be certain grey areas that will have to be tackled in a legal system which does not spell out matchfixing as a crime. But there is little doubt that with the CBI having done their job, ways and means must be found to overcome any technical hurdles and arrive at a process of justice which takes the scam to its logical conclusion without delay.