Cricketer Ankeet Chavan allowed to leave jail for marriage

Rajasthan Royals cricketer Ankeet Chavan, arrested in the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot fixing scandal, was Thursday granted interim bail by a Delhi court to get married June 2.

Additional Sessions Judge Vinay Kumar Khanna granted Chavan interim bail till June 6 on a personal bond of Rs.1 lakh and a surety of equal amount.

Chavan was Tuesday denied relief by a magisterial court which said that social stigma could not be a ground to give him the concession.

Lawyer for Chavan, who was earlier sent to judicial custody till June 4, told the magistrate that his marriage date was close and he needed to attend the ceremonies and if the wedding did not take place it would cause harm to his reputation and that of the prospective bride.

The magisterate rejected this contention and said: "The defence counsel has cited reason of social stigma to the families of the bride and groom. Social sentiments cannot be considered as valid grounds while evaluating the grounds of bail."

"Keeping in view the gravity of offence and conspiracy with other co-accused persons, I do not find any ground to admit accused either on regular or on interim bail. Both the applications are accordingly dismissed," the magistrate said.

Chavan and his teammates S. Sreesanth and Ajit Chandila were arrested in Mumbai by Delhi Police for their alleged involvement in spot fixing in matches for payments up to Rs.60 lakh for giving away pre-determined number of runs in an over.

Senior Public Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan opposed Chavan's plea before the magistrate and said it was a settled proposition of law that once a person was not entitled to regular bail on a specific ground, he could not seek interim bail on similar ground.

He said if Chavan was granted bail, there was every likelihood of his tampering with evidence or running away from justice.