Some tainted are more equal than others

Sources in the Government say that BCCI’s special commissioner K Madhavan will fix `quantum of guilt’ by each of these five players, while the Board would fix `quantum of punishment’.

`I am not here to hand out punishment to any player. My task is to find out the role of each player on the basis of the CBI’s fact-finding report. It is like any other departmental probe,” declared Madhavan.

He told The Indian Express today that the BCCI wanted him to fix specific guilt of each player and quantify them.

When asked whether he would recommend the `quantum of punishment’ also to the players, Madhavan replied in the negative saying, “This is beyond my brief.”

According to the brief given to Madhavan by the BCCI, he will categorise the role of each of these five players. If Mohammad Azharuddin falls in the `grave misconduct’ category, the role of Ajay Sharma and Manoj Prabhakar is sure to get into the `serious misconduct’ column.

Ajay Jadeja and Nayan Mongia would invite punishment but they may get away with a `milder’ dose.

Since the CBI has already announced that its probe against those having links with the mafia would continue and it is still examining whether Azharuddin and Sharma can be prosecuted as they are public servants, the BCCI can put them into compulsory wait-list category rather than announcing the quantum of punishment.

Since Manoj Prabhakar has also been named by the CBI as the person who was hand-in-glove with Ajay Sharma since the beginning of the match-fixing scam, he would also invite the same wrath. This would leave only Jadeja and Mongia to face the music. With regard to Mongia, the CBI has not even said that it has any evidence of his involvement in the scam.

The CBI has stated that it `strongly’ suspects his involvement. But `due to lack of corroboration on material particulars, the evidence against him is not all that strong’. But there is no record of Mongia talking with any bookie or punter over a mobile-phone. He was only in touch with Capt Azharuddin and was involved with him in two matches that were fixed.

The CBI could not say whether he simply obeyed the orders of the team captain or took money. Therefore, Mongia cannot fall in the ‘grave misconduct’ category.

But the case of Jadeja is slightly ticklish as it has been established beyond doubt that he was in touch with punters and bookies; that he met Mukesh Gupta and Uttamchand; that he took money from Uttamchand and even shared with Ajay Sharma; that Azhar confessed that he made matches with Jadeja.

No doubt that the statements of Azhar, Ajay, MK and Uttamchand are corroborating with each other most of the points, Jadeja can still get away with `milder’ punishment due to his political clout. The decision of the BCCI to categorise the quantum of guilt itself is aimed at categorising the quantum of punishment. However, hardliners in the Government continue to press for a life-ban on these five players. But all these hardliners have been shifted from the scene — from Sports Minister S S Dhindsa to downwards.