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Madhavan's Verdict on Match Fixing : The Complete Report |
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128. We have now to analyse the role of the leader
of Indian cricketers for most part of the last decade. Reportedly an
introvert and lone ranger, I found him pleasant mannered and externally
calm during my interaction with him on 16th November, 2000 at Ramada Inn
Manohar, Hyderabad. Barring a few minor hiccups in the process of making
him appear before me, he finally presented himself before me at Hyderabad
on 16th November, 2000 at about 12 noon, though I had summoned him at 9
a.m. 129. In the report of the CBI, his statement as
recorded by the CBI is appearing at Pages 68-71. I have had the benefit of
getting his verbatim statement from CBI, which is placed at Pages 016-020
in Vol-II. His statement, as recorded by me, on 16th November, 2000 is
placed at Pages 048-088 in Vol.-III. 130.
Mohd. Azharuddin (Azhar for short) is a B.Com
Graduate and graduated from Nizam College, Hyderabad in 1983. At the
senior level, he represented Osmania University in 1980, started playing
Ranji Trophy in 1981 and was selected for the national team in 1984. Since
then, he has more or less continuously played for the country except on a
few occasions when he was either dropped or due to health reasons.
Recently, due to allegations of match fixing, he has again not been
selected for the national team. 131. He has been working in the State Bank of India
from 1983 and is presently in Scale-IV and designated as Chief Manager
& PRO. He is posted at Hyderabad. 132. His father, Shri Mohd. Azizuddin, retired from
the rank of Senior Accounts Officer from Andhra Pradesh State Electricity
Board. He has 4 brothers, who are not involved in cricket. He has two
sisters, both of whom are married. He is therefore from a middle class
family. If the extent of success of a person is the distance he has
travelled from his origin till his final achievement, Azhar has been
highly successful till nemesis caught up with him. 133. Due to his preoccupation with the game of
cricket, he used to file his annual property returns in SBI off and on.
However, recently his annual property returns have been fully completed
and brought on record. This is probably because CBI has asked for them
from SBI. From 1984-85 onwards, he has been regularly filing his
income-tax returns through Karvi Consultants, who are his Chartered
Accountants. 134. As asked for by me Azhar made available to me
copies of his receipts and payments are reflected in his IT returns from
financial year 1989-90 up to 1998-99. These are available at Pages 048-088
of Vol.-III. As the said statements contain quite some information about
the split up of details of his receipts and payments, I am furnishing
below, for ready reference, details of his receipts only.
135. In the statements recorded by CBI, Azhar stated
that he had the following movable and immovable properties. "I have also paid approximately Rs. 2 lacs in
1992 to Kapil Dev for some land at Gurgaon. However, I have not acquired
this plot so far since it is under some litigation. "Besides the above said immovable property, I
also own following cars: "I further state that I have imported some good
quality furniture from abroad on some occasions". 136. I am of the view that the gift of the two cars,
Honda Accord and Mercedes Benz-220-D are far too expensive
"gifts" received by him. 137. Regarding the above, Azhar confirmed to me that
he had conveyed to the CBI about the immovable properties at Sl.No. 1 to
6. He stated that the property Sl.No. 7 actually belongs to his aunt Mrs.
Aneesa Sultana. He added that this property was no doubt mentioned during
his interrogation by the CBI but appears to have been included as his
property due to oversight. He added that he did own another flat in
Amrutha Valley, Road No. 12, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, which, at the time
of his separation from his former wife Mr. Naureen was given by him to her
in exchange of dowar/meher as maintenance in 1996. 138. Azhar also stated before me that for the land
in Gurgaon, he had paid only Rs. 50,000 to Kapil Dev and not Rs. 2 lakhs
as set out in the statement recorded by CBI. He does not know the name of
the area where the land is situated. 139. On my query, he stated that he is now staying
in a rented house at No. 164, Road No. 14, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad for
which he is paying a rent of Rs. 20,000 per month. He said that he is
staying in a rented house as he had given away the only flat in Hyderabad
to his former wife and did "not have enough money now to buy a flat
or house. To your query as to how the situation has come about, my answer
is whatever money I had earned and saved out of my playing matches,
getting awards and financial benefits, advertisement revenues etc. were
all invested by me in buying Flat Nos 601 and 701 at Hill Road, Bandra,
Mumbai in 1996. I do not exactly recall as to how much I paid for those
flats ......................". He had not rented out the said two
flats at Mumbai and they are kept locked. 140. To my query, he stated that as he has been
quite busy in playing matches and being out of Hyderabad for long periods,
he is generally not being claiming House Rent Allowance, Medical
Reimbursement, Conveyance Allowance etc. from SBI. 141. He also stated that he used to own a house at
Road No. 10, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, where he used to stay with his
parents. He had acquired the said house in 1994. In December 1999 or so,
he sold the said house for Rs. 36 lakhs. Along with the said money and a
loan of Rs. 8 lakhs taken from SBI, he bought Flat No. 501, Nest
Apartments, Erramanzil, Hyderabad. He bought this flat mainly for the stay
of his parents where they are now staying. 142. He confirmed that he owned 5 cars as recorded
by the CBI. 143. Regarding the statement recorded by the CBI he
stated, he had never made any financial investments in HCL Agro as
recorded by CBI. The persons who set up the project were his friends and
Azhar only helped them in getting some of the necessary clearances from
Governmental agencies. He added that he did not make any investment in
Ratna Cement Factory as set out in his statement recorded by CBI. He
confirmed that he got the modelling contract for Tissot watches through
Ashraf Patel, who was his friend. Ashraf Patel was murdered sometime back
in Mumbai. Ashraf Patel was a dealer in Mumbai for Tissot watches and when
the company wanted to engage Azharuddin as a model, they approached him
through Ashraf Patel. Azharuddin confirmed that he had a contract with
Reebok to use cricket bats with their logo. The contract is no more in
force. Azharuddin added that he had a modelling contract for promoting
Pepsi, which was terminated by them recently. He had visited the shop of
Ashraf Patel for promotional activities of Tissot watches. Azharuddin
stated that he had not made any financial investment through or with
Ashraf Patel. Ashraf Patel had no involvement in cricket. 144. Regarding Ajay Sharma, he stated that the
relationship with Ajay Sharma was only as a fellow cricketer and he had no
monetary transactions with Ajay Sharma at all. "19. The following portion my statement recorded by the CBI has now
been read out to me: 20) "On being asked about introducing Mukesh Kumar Gupta @ MK to
Hansie Cronje at Kanpur in 1996, I state that I had done so and I only
knew Mukesh Gupta as a Jeweller. On being asked whether I know that MK is
a bookie, I state that this person was first introduced to me by Ajay
Sharma some time in 1995 at Hotel Taj Palace, S.P. Marg, New Delhi." 21) I never said as above before the CBI. I have never known any person
called Mukesh Kumar Gupta alias MK. I have never known him as John also. I
never introduced him to any one. In particular, I did not introduce him to
Hansie Cronje at Kanpur in 1996 or at any other time. As I did not know
Mukesh Kumar Gupta at all, my knowing him only as a jeweller does not
arise. Similarly, the question of my knowing MK as a bookie also does not
arise. It is not correct that MK was first introduced to me by Ajay Sharma
some time in 1995 at Hotel Taj Palace, New Delhi. Ajay Sharma did not
introduce him to me at any time. 22)QUESTION BY COMMISSIONER:Hansie Cronje has deposed that MK was
introduced to him by you. What do you have to say regarding this? 24).QUESTION OF COMMISSIONER: Do you have or had at any time any
enmity with Hansie Cronje? 26). You have now read out to me the following portion in my statement as
recorded by the CBI. "He along with Ajay Sharma has been approaching
me to under perform in some matches for a consideration. I do not member
the exact amount paid to me but I remember that Mukesh Gupta had offered
me a sum of Rs. 1.25 crores but the deal did not materialize. However, I
have taken money on some occasions from him but did not under perform in
most of the matches. On being asked specifically, I state that the
"Titan Cup" match between India and South Africa at Rajkot in
1996 was fixed through Mukesh Gupta and Ajay Sharma. In that series, Ajay
Jadeja and Nayan Mongia were also involved along with me. On being asked I
state that perhaps some match in 'Pepsi Asia Cup' at Srilanka in 1997 was
also fixed through him. I do not recollect any other matches in which I
may have been fixed through MK". 27). My reply is that I did not state as above to CBI at all. When I have
stated before you that I did not know Mr. Mukesh Gupta, the question of
these activities does not arise at all. I deny each and every allegation
in the aforesaid quoted portion. I never made any statement or admission
before CBI and therefore this part of the statement has also been wrongly
recorded. 28). The following portions of my statement recorded by the CBI have now
been read out to me. "On being asked about Ajay Gupta, Gyan Gupta and
Amish Gupta whose Cell phone numbers figure frequently in my mobile, I
state that I met them through Ajay Sharma some time in 1998 since I had a
letter of intent for a petrol pump issued by the Ministry of Petroleum in
1996 and there was some litigation and I wanted to seek their help. On being asked whether Amish Gupta s/o Gyan Gupta paid my bills at
Harrods in England in 1999 during the World Cup, I state that I had made
some purchases and Amish Gupta had paid for the same. On being asked
whether Ajay Gupta and his associates are also involved in match fixing
through me, I state that they have approached me some times to under
perform for a consideration. Continue...... |
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