BCCI exonerates Nikhil Chopra

The disciplinary committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India at a meeting in Chennai on Thursday, exonerated off-spinner Nikhil Chopra from charges of being involved in the match-fixing scandal.

Briefing reporters after a long meeting which started in the morning and went on till the evening with a break for lunch, BCCI president AC Muthiah said Chopra was asked to attend the meeting and after listening to him, the committee decided that there was no case against him. "He is now eligible to play for the country if the selection committee picks him," said Muthiah.

Chopra himself was not available for comment. He evaded the media when he entered the hotel where the meeting was held and was whisked away by a side door at the end of the session. Chopra, against whom the CBI found no substantial evidence of involvement in the scandal, was exonerated after going through the internal inquiry report submitted by the BCCI anti-corruption commissioner K Madhavan and hearing his explanation, according to Muthiah.

Muthiah said the disciplinary committee went into the merits of the case and concluded that the player had no nexus with bookmakers and was satisfied with his explanation.

On the fresh findings of the Income Tax Authorities (Investigative Wing) against Chopra, Muthiah said that the player said he had not received any notice. Chopra had maintained that he had declared all his income and had no undisclosed assets.

It may be recalled that Chopra was initially a member of the Indian team for the five-match one-day series against Zimbabwe, but was not taken in the playing eleven in the opening match at Cuttack. He was subsequently excluded from the team on Muthiah's directions as he had not been queried then by Madhavan.

The committee was also "totally convinced" with the explanation provided by PCA president IS Bindra and PCA secretary MP Pandove. Muthiah said the committee's findings would be placed at the working committee meeting in New Delhi on January 22 which would take a final decision.

Bindra's appearance before the committee today was in response to the show cause notice the BCCI had issued to him in August last year following his 'outbursts' against the working of the Board. As Muthiah explained, the show cause notice to Bindra, a former Board president, was issued under Clause 38 of the board's constitution. The disciplinary committee also heard a similar explanation from MP Pandove, secretary of the PCA.

Kamal Morarka, vice president of the board, was replaced by Narhari Amin of Baroda, another BCCI vice-president in the disciplinary committee when Bindra was interrogated. As Morarka explained to reporters, he himself opted out as he and Bindra had allegedly traded charges against each other and it would not be fair on his (Morarka's) part to be on the committee. The other two members of the committee are Muthiah (Chairman) and KN Ramprasad of Karnataka.

Bindra, on his part showered encomiums on Muthiah. "He has done a commendable job in the past eight or nine months. He has accomplished things which I could not do. I will do anything I can do to strengthen the president's hands. I will do nothing to weaken or degenerate the board. I am one hundred percent satisfied with the manner in which the committee heard me out this morning. I have now left it to the committee and I will accept whatever their decision might be."

Muthiah also said that Madhavan was continuing with his inquiry into the controversy over India not enforcing the follow-on in the Ahmedabad Test against New Zealand in 1999. He also said that Madhavan was following up into the inquiry on former Indian coach AL Wadekar.