Former cricketer S Sreesanth’s plea in the Supreme Court seeking relaxation of a life-ban to allow him a chance to play in England’s County Championship has been opposed by the BCCI, IANS reported.
Opposing the plea, senior counsel Parag Tripathi told the bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that the plea could not be accepted as the cricket board had found the cricketer to be in touch with bookies through an intermediary during the IPL spot-fixing case in 2013.
Tripathi told the court that it was not just a question of law but also that of the BCCI code.
The BCCI has already appealed against a Kerala High Court order discharging Sreesanth of criminal charges for his role in the spot-fixing case during IPL 2013.
Senior counsel Salman Khurshid urged the bench to allow the “outstanding cricketer” a chance to play cricket in England for three months.
The bench noted the cricketer’s “anxiety” to resume playing the game and directed the Kerala HIgh Court to dispose of the appeal challenging his discharge by the end of July.
Five years ago, Delhi police had arrested Sreesanth and his two other Rajasthan Royals teammates, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan on the charge of spot-fixing.
Sreesanth was subsequently discharged by the trial court of criminal charges for want of evidence.