Aditya Verma welcomes court discharging Sreesanth

Unrecognised Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) secretary Aditya Verma on Saturday welcomed a Delhi court's decision to drop charges against former India pacer S. Sreesanth and 35 other accused in the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) spot fixing and betting case.

He also demanded action against former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president and current International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman N. Srinivasan.

The court on Saturday discharged cricketers Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan and 33 others who were chargesheeted by the Delhi Police in connection with the spot fixing scandal that rocked the 2013 edition of the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament.

"Justice has finally prevailed. The cricketers who were banned by the BCCI have been exonerated. The decision is a slap on Srinivasan's face who tried all his might to render these players as scapegoats and save his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan," said Verma.

"It's time the BCCI initiates action against Srinivasan and ensures that he is removed as the ICC chairman."

The Supreme Court-appointed Justice Lodha Committee earlier this month handed life bans to Meiyappan and Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra from any cricketing activity.

Delhi Police filed a chargesheet on July 30, 2013, alleging that underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his aide Chhota Shakeel were behind the IPL spot fixing scandal. The formal set of charges, running into 6,000 pages, named Sreesanth, Chandila and Chavan, among other accused, in the scandal.

Dawood and Shakeel are on the run and have been declared proclaimed offenders in the case after police completed proceedings of their property attachment.