Wanted bookie and match-fixing accused Sanjeev Chawla extradited to India from UK

Wanted bookie Sanjeev Chawla has been brought to India on Thursday. Chawla has been extradited from the UK. He is wanted in the 2000 match-fixing scandal case which also included the late South African skipper Hansie Cronje. While it remains to be seen where he will be taken on landing, as per sources, the Delhi crime branch will take up further investigation. As per reports, Chawla had been in touch with Hansie Cronje during the infamous betting scandal in early 2000 which rocked the sport.  

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According to court documents in the case, Chawla is described as a Delhi-born businessman who moved to the UK on a business visa in 1996, where he has been based while making trips back and forth to India. After his Indian passport was revoked in 2000, he obtained a UK passport in 2005 and became a British citizen. Chawla is alleged to have played a central role in conspiring with Hansie Cronje, the late South African cricket team captain, to fix a South African tour to India in February-March 2000.

The previous extradition of Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, wanted in connection with the Godhra riots in Gujarat, from the UK to India in October 2016 had been uncontested and therefore did not have to go through various levels of appeals in the UK courts. Chawla had taken his appeal against being extradited to India right up to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which rejected his application for an interim measure last week and paved the way for him being put on a flight to India.

Chawla had lost a last-ditch High Court appeal on human rights grounds against former UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid's extradition order at a hearing in the Royal Courts of Justice in London last month, with a court order dated January 23 setting a 28-day deadline for him to be extradited to India. The verdict in fugitive Vijay Mallya's appeal against his extradition is also likely to be pronounced on Thursday.

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(With PTI Inputs)