Sreesanth, Chandila and all accused discharged in IPL Spot fixing case

In what will come as a huge relief for cricketers Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankit Chavan, a Delhi trial court discharged all the charges against them in the IPL Spot Fixing case. Insufficient evidence against the players was cited as the reason for the verdict.

It was earlier reported that the Delhi Police sought permission to investigate further into the Lodha Committee findings.

The prosecution can go ahead and take the case further to a higher court if needed but as of now, the cricketers are free to approach the BCCI once again and there is room for them to start playing again. They were given life bans earlier by a BCCI Committee after the three were arrested in 2013 with relation to spot-fixing.

"It was the worst time of my life. God was on my side. I wanted the decision to come as soon as possible. It feels like I have woken up from a bad dream. Now I will see you guys on the cricket field," said Chandila to reporters after the verdict.

"It is easy to dream to play for India. I am only 32," said a visibly relieved Sreesanth after the verdict, "I have faced a lot of difficulties. I thank all the people who supported me and my well-wishers all over the world. Thanks to everyone. I will try to resume training soon. Hopefully I get permission from BCCI to start training and come under the selection process. I want to play cricket."

The three cricketers were given bail earlier after the court found that there was no prima facie evidence showing that they had been involved in match-fixing and insufficient evidence under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). Delhi police had said that underworld kingpin Dawood Ibrahim was controlling the betting syndicate and was involved in match-fixing as well.

While there was insufficient evidence for the Court to proceed a criminal case against those accused, Sreesanth and the other cricketers will still have to prove that they were not guilty of other wrong-doings such as spot-fixing to the BCCI if their bans have to be overturned. All three cricketers have said that they will wait to read the entire court verdict and understand what it says before approaching BCCI to play cricket.

BCCI, however, has said that it will not revoke the ban on Sreesanth and Chavan despite the court's verdict."Any disciplinary proceeding or decision taken by the BCCI is independent to any criminal proceeding and has no bearing. The decisions of the BCCI, based on its independent disciplinary action, shall remain unaltered," BCCI said in a statement issued.