Delhi HC reserves order on plea seeking cancellation of bail to cricket bookie Sanjeev Chawla

The Delhi High Court has reserved order on Delhi Police's plea challenging the trial court order granting bail to cricket bookie Sanjeev Chawla, who was recently extradited to India for his alleged involvement in a match-fixing racket.The Police challenging the bail order had urged the judicature to set aside the trial court order and stated that the accused Sanjeev Kumar Chawla is a British national and there are chances that he may fly back.

The Delhi High Court has reserved order on Delhi Police's plea challenging the trial court order granting bail to cricket bookie Sanjeev Chawla, who was recently extradited to India for his alleged involvement in a match-fixing racket.

Justice Asha Menon has reserved the orders on the plea seeking cancellation of regular bail granted by the Session Courts of Patiala House Court on 30th April. The hearing was held via video conference on Saturday.

Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa, who represents Chawla, told that the High Court has directed the trial court judge to accept the bail bonds and release the applicant from custody after taking the undertaking that the release is subject to the outcome of the proceedings in the High Court.

Pahwa also said that the court has given time to the parties to file their written submissions, if any, by Monday evening.

Sanjeev Chawla was granted bail by the court on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh. He is one of the main accused in the match-fixing scandal that also involved late South Africa captain Hansie Cronje.

He had allegedly conspired with the latter to fix matches during South Africa's tour to India in 2000.

The Police challenging the bail order had urged the judicature to set aside the trial court order and stated that the accused Sanjeev Kumar Chawla is a British national and there are chances that he may fly back.

The police also stated that it took them 20 years to bring Chawla to justice in India and added that the investigation team worked hard on this case to get the accused extradited from the United Kingdom.

( With inputs from ANI )