BETTING, MATCH AND SPOT FIXING IN INDIA: A LEGAL ANALYSIS

THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN BY MANASVITA TEJSI, A STUDENT OF RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF LAW

INTRODUCTION

Branches of corruption are everywhere, from politicians to police officers; these branches have extended themselves into what people consider a religion in this country- cricket. But when the game is tainted by people who only care about money making, this brings problems into play. Match fixing is where the result of the match is pre-determined and is bet on. The team throwing the match and losing, makes illicit money by performing poorly. This shakes the very core of trust and loyalty towards the team and the nation. The difference between match fixing and spot fixing is that in spot fixing there is a certain point at which fixing is done; it can be asking a bowler to bowl a no ball or asking a batsman to get run out. This is point shaving on one’s own team. Spot fixing is harder to detect than match fixing. Betting is placing a guess or a hunch on the events of the match and then winning or losing money in accordance with it. While bookmakers in India are illegal, people can bet online as the money goes into an offshore account. This makes it difficult to trace back the money and any individual is technically safe. Bookmakers take advantage of the situation as not many people know about the online legal bet circumstance, and make money out of it. India’s stance on match fixing, spot fixing and betting is not lucid.

THE LAWS

Betting or gambling has been a grey area as the laws are different; betting on horse races, rummy and lottery is legal. Different states have different betting laws; this is because of the Seventh schedule in India which incorporates the three lists i.e. the union list, the state list and the concurrent list which furthermore contains betting and gambling laws.[1] The Public Gambling Act, 1867[2] does not make betting entirely illegal and leaves out online betting and thus, it is not considered as an illicit activity. Betting is different for different states. Bookmakers are banned but there is no law which restricts people to bet online with international bookmakers. An individual cannot be held liable if they bet on an internationally hosted website and if the laws of that country allow betting and gambling. A specific act is thus needed for online betting. People have argued that by making betting legal, fixing would see a stoop decline. This would not entirely solve the problem as fixing would help them in betting; these people would only bet on the situations which they know will happen.

Match fixing and spot fixing on the other hand is illegal but there are no specific laws to support the same. Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 states—”Whoever, being, or expecting to be a public servant, accepts or obtains or agrees to accept or attempts to obtain from any person, for himself or for any other person, any gratification whatever, other than legal remuneration, as a motive or reward for doing or forbearing to do any official act or for showing or forbearing to show, in the exercise of his official functions, favour or disfavour to any person 5 or for rendering or attempting to render any service or disservice to any person, with the Central Government or any State Government or Parliament or the Legislature of any State or with any local authority, corporation or Government company referred to in clause (c) of section 2, or with any public servant, whether named or otherwise, shall be punishable with imprisonment which shall be not less than [three years] but which may extend to [seven years] and shall also be liable to fine.”[3] The Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) is a private body and thus, cricketers do not come under the ambit of public servants. They cannot be booked under this act. Section 415 in the India Penal Code, 1860 covers the definition of cheating.[4] It is by deceiving someone to acquire wrongful gain for oneself. In morality, a cricketer by spot fixing or match fixing deceives his/her own nation. In the case of Ahmed v State of Rajasthan[5], it was stated that an act is dishonest only when there is an intention to cheat irrespective of the result. The intention is hard to prove in such situations where the intention to cheat whom is not clear.

Thus, it will be correct to say there are no laws for match and spot fixing which criminally charge a cricket player. Betting laws has a giant online betting loophole which paves way for individuals to gamble.

MATCH FIXING INSTANCES

Players like Ajay Sharma, Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar were the first of the Indian cricketers to be ever caught for match fixing scandals or having contact with bookmakers. Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma received life bans which was lifted in 2012 and 2014 respectively. Manoj Prabhakar and Ajay Jadeja got banned from playing cricket for five years each. This was conclusive as the report on match fixing was made by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2000.[6] In the report Manoj Prabhakar tried associating Kapil Dev with the scandal but was found guilty instead. These players were the first of the golden era of cricket who were caught in the scandal. Before the CBI report, the magazine owners of ‘Tehelka’, Tarun Tejpal and Aniruddha Bahal, convinced Manoj Prabhakar to do a sting operation to out the names of cricketers involved in match fixing. There are several audio recordings which helped the CBI prove that Ajay Sharma, Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja were involved in the scandal as well. These were popularly known as ‘Tehelka Tapes’.

In 2013, the domestic game of Indian Premier League (IPL), there were three important players who were charged with match and spot fixing. They were banned for either life or five years. Even though there were many instances and proof of these illicit activities, cricketers were not imprisoned as there are no laws which state the same. After the IPL scandal, in 2015, there were 36 people who were caught in fixing scandal and were acquitted by the Patiala House Court because betting was not illegal and no action could be taken.[7]

CONCLUSION

Laws are for the betterment of the country and its citizens. Cricket is one of the biggest sports in India; and the cricketers are considered as gods. Public puts trust and hope in the players. Any kind of dishonesty, anywhere, should be met with similar consequences. The ground reality is there are no stringent laws for betting, match fixing and spot fixing. This gives cricketers, cricket officials and bookmakers a chance to slip through the cracks of the legal system. This cannot happen until BCCI itself will be willing to back this support. Deliberately underperforming to lose is a huge win for them and a huge loss for the nation.

[1] Seventh Schedule, (ii) State List, entry 34

[2] The Public Gambling Act, 1867, No. 3, 1867 (India)

[3] Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, S. 7

[4] Indian Penal Code, 1860, S. 415

[5] Ahmed And Anr. vs The State, AIR 1967 Raj 190 (India)

[6] ESPN staff, CBI’s Report on Cricket Match Fixing and Related Malpractices (Section 3- Analysis of evidence), ESPN (Nov. 3, 2000), https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/23228588/cbi-report-cricket-match-fixing-related-malpractices-section-3-analysis-evidence

[7] PTI, Sreesanth, Chandila and Chavan discharged in IPL spot fixing case, The Hindu, July 25, 2015, https://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/ipl-spot-fixing-sreesanth-chandila-chavan-acquitted/article7464447.ece