Court issues Sreesanth, Chavan notice on bail

Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan have been issued notices by a Delhi trial court in response to the Delhi Police's plea for cancelling their bail. They were among 39 persons named in the chargesheet filed by Delhi Police on Tuesday, which lays down the charges against the accused in the IPL corruption case.

The players are among 21 persons issued the bail notice by the trial court, and would now have to respond to the court giving reasons why their bail should stand. They, along with Rajasthan Royals team-mate Ajit Chandila and several bookies, were arrested for alleged spot-fixing in the IPL on May 16. While Chandila did not apply for bail and is still in judicial custody, Sreesanth and Chavan have been out on bail since June 11.

When the court granted them bail last month, it had said the Delhi Police had not produced enough evidence to charge the players under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), a special law passed by the Maharashtra provincial government to tackle organised crime syndicates and terrorism that contains far stricter provisions relating to bail. Now, however, it is understood that the investigation has progressed to a point where the police believe this law can be invoked.

As per the 6000-page chargesheet filed on Tuesday, the players were charged under MCOCA, as well as sections 420 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code - which deal with fraud, cheating and criminal conspiracy. Section 409 of the IPC - which deals with criminal breach of trust by a public servant and was initially invoked against the players following the Rajasthan Royals franchise's complaint against them - has been dropped from the charges as the police could not gather sufficient evidence to substantiate the charge.