Kerala High Court lifts life ban on Sreesanth

Thiruvananthapuram: In a big relief to cricketer S Sreesanth, the Kerala High Court on Monday lifted the life ban imposed on him by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing case.

The seamer was charged alongside two of his Rajasthan Royals teammates, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, for spot-fixing in IPL-6. Sreesanth was, however, acquitted in the case in July 2015. The cricketer who has been fighting for justice since his acquittal but BCCI continued to hold out and didn’t lift the life ban imposed on him.

In a hearing in March, the High Court sought BCCI’s stand on the plea filed by Sreesanth challenging the life ban. The bowler had then filed a petition challenging the BCCI’s decision not to lift the ban despite being exonerated by the Delhi High Court in 2015.

The player had argued that not lifting the ban violated his constitutional rights considering BCCI had taken into account the same charges applied on him by the Delhi Police for which he was later cleared by the Court. In 2013, BCCI had suspended him and ordered an enquiry following his arrest in May 2013. He argued that BCCI’s inquiry team had submitted the report without giving him a due chance of hearing.

But he was given a chance to provide his version in writing later although the supplementary report was filed without taking the written version into due consideration. He was then issued a show cause notice before the ban was imposed on him.