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Madhavan's Verdict on Match Fixing : The Complete Report |
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164. The statement of Ajay Jadeja has been set out by the CBI at Pages
76-78 of the report. However, the verbatim copy of his statement as
recorded by the CBI is at Pages 026-031of Vol.-II. 165. I recorded the statement of Ajay Jadeja on 12.11.2000 at Radisson
Hotel, Chennai which is at Pages 096-123 of Vol.-III. When he came to meet
me, he had come prepared with a compilation of his own version of his
alleged involvement in the match fixing allegation etc. The compilation
handed over by him to me is of 109 pages, out of which pages 1-20 is in
narrative form. Pages 21 and 22 are extracts prepared by Ajay Jadeja
regarding the details of telephonic conversations between cell phones
9810034882 (his phone) and 9840037700 (Uttam Chand's phone) from October,
1999 to June, 2000. Pages 23 to 102 are printouts of cellphone 9810034882
of Ajay Jadeja. Pages 103-106 are cricketing records of Ajay Jadeja's
career. Rest of the pages are miscellaneous documents. 166. As the compilation is voluminous and it is not necessary to place
the same in its entirety in Vol.-III, I am furnishing at Pages 096-123 of
Vol.-III, only Pages 1-22 of Ajay Jadeja's compilation. 167. In the statement recorded by me, Ajay Jadeja made a minor correction
in the first paragraph of his statement recorded by the CBI on 16th July
2000 and stated that the correct facts are that his father was an MP from
1971 to 1977 and again from 1980 to 1990. He was a MLA in Gujarat State
from 1978-1980. 168. In the second paragraph of his statement recorded by the CBI, it is
stated that he was living, when he was examined by the CBI on 16th July,
2000 at house No. W-14, Greater Kailash-II, New Delhi and that he also
owned an office at Defence Colony. Besides, 'recently' he had purchased a
house at Uday Park. He also owns 5 acres of land in a scheme floated by
Kapil Dev at village Roza Ka Gujjar at Delhi-Haryana Border. He also
stated before the CBI, "I also own some land in Bombay". He
regularly files income-tax returns. In reply to a query by CBI, he stated
that he availed VDIS scheme in 1998-1999. CBI did not record any
particulars thereof; nor did I ask him as it is statutorily not permitted.
169. In the statement recorded by me, Ajay Jadeja stated that he did not
own any land in Bombay and added that what he told CBI in this regard was
that about 3 or 4 years back, while playing a match somewhere, all the
players were offered by someone approximately 200 square metres of
residential plots at Raigarh at a cost of Rs. 51,000 per plot and that all
the Indian players, including Ajay Jadeja, bought a plot each. 170. In the statement recorded by the CBI on 16th July, 2000, he further
stated as under:- "On being asked whether I know Rajesh Kalra and
Kishan Kumar, I state that I know both of them since Rajesh Kalra, Kishan
Kumar and myself use the same gym at Hotel Park Royal and I have also
known Kishan Kumar for the past few years since he is an actor in
Bollywood. "On being asked about my relationship with Rajesh Kalra and Kishan
Kumar since they have been implicated in Hansie Cronje case, I state that
I have no knowledge of them being involved in match fixing/betting and I
myself have never been involved in any sort of deal with them with regard
to match fixing/betting. On being asked about Rattan Mehta, I state that
Rattan Mehta is a very good friend of mine and I have known him for the
past many years. I have frequently gone to his restaurant and still
maintain close contacts with him. "On being asked whether I know that Rattan Mehta is involved in
betting/match fixing, I state that I have no knowledge of Rattan Mehta's
activities and I never bothered to find out what exactly he does. Our
friendship was based on certain other areas of common interest and had
nothing to do with Cricket. I had no knowledge of Rattan Mehta's father
being involved in any Narcotics case nor I have any knowledge of Rattan
Mehta's sister being arrested for betting on cricket during World Cup 1999
by Delhi Police. "On being asked whether I was involved in match fixing/betting
through Rattan Mehta, I state that I have never passed on any information
nor have I ever placed any bets etc. through Rattan Mehta. 'On being asked whether I know Mukesh Gupta @ M.K., I state that I have
never met Mukesh Gupta but I do know that he stays next to Nikhil Chopra's
house in Defence Colony. I also state that I have never been to his house
along with Ajay Sharma and had never offered to under perform in any match
etc. for a consideration from Mukesh Gupta. I also state that I know Ajay
Sharma but I am not very close to him and I have never offered to under
perform for a consideration at the behest of Ajay Sharma in any match. "On being asked whether I know Ameesh and Ajay Gupta, I state that I
have no contacts with these two persons. "On being asked whether Azharuddin had given me money to under
perform in any match, I state that I have never taken any money from
Azharuddin and I never intentionally under performed in any match. All
newspaper reports etc. are just rumours and I have never received money
from anyone including Azharuddin to under perform in any match. "On being asked whether I know Karun Dubey, I state that I know
Karun Dubey since he is a close friend of Kapil Dev and I also know him
since he is the son-in-law of Santosh Mohan Dev, who was known to my
father and more over Karun Dubey also played Cricket at Ranji level but I
however, do not know about his business or other activities. "On being asked, whether I know Hiren Hathi, I state that I have
known Hiren Hathi for a long time. He has been looking after arrangement
of stay etc. for Indian players at Ahmedabad and since I am originally
from Gujarat and Hiren Hathi is from Ahmedabad, we have close contacts and
I sometimes contact him for some of my business dealings and also if I
have some work in Ahmedabad and Hiren organises all these matters. "On being asked whether I am involved in match fixing/betting
through Hiren Hathi, I state that I have not passed on any information nor
I have placed any bets through Hiren Hathi and our relationship is purely
based on business interests. "On being asked about my relationship with Kapil Dev, I state that
Kapil Dev is like a father to me and he has guided me from the time I
started my cricketing career. I also state that myself and Kapil Dev
together have never been involved in any match fixing/betting incident.
Our relationship is solely based on cricket and we also do not have any
business links with each other. "On being asked whether I am close to Nikhil Chopra and Rahul
Sanghvi, I state that I know both of them very well since they are Delhi
based and I am also frequently in touch with them. However, I state that I
have never been involved in match fixing/betting along with them." 171. Regarding the above, Ajay Jadeja stated before me that he confirms
that the said portions of his statement have been correctly recorded. 172. CBI also recorded his further statement on 1st September, 2000 in
which he stated as under in the first paragraph: "On being asked again whether I have met Mukesh Kumar Gupta @ M.K.
along with Ajay Sharma and my girl friend some time in 1996 at M.K.'s
residence, I state that I do not remember exactly whether I met him. I
meet so many people that it is very difficult to remember all the persons
whom I meet. On being asked further, I state that I do not remember if I
had received Rs. 50,000/- from M.K. or not. I further state that if at all
I had met M.K., definitely my girl friend would have not gone inside and
only myself and Ajay Sharma probably would have gone inside his house. 173. In the statement recorded by me, Ajay Jadeja stated that he
generally confirms what he stated as above about M.K. He added that in so
far as his receiving Rs. 50,000 from M.K. is concerned, he told CBI that
he had not received the said money from him. Ajay Jadeja stated before me
that he did not tell the CBI, "I do not remember if I had received Rs.
50,000 from M.K. or not". 174. In the statement of Ajay Jadeja as recorded by the CBI, he stated as
below regarding Uttam Chand of Chennai. "On being asked, I state that I do not know any person named Uttam
Chand of Chennai. On being confronted with my telephone print outs as well
as Uttam Chand's telephone print out which disclose very frequent
telephonic contact between us just before international cricket matches, I
state that probably I know him and I recognise the Cell phone number, but
I know this person as Gupta. "On being asked how it is possible for a person not knowing me so
well to contact me so frequently over telephone, I state that this person
has been ringing me up for the past one or two years and claiming to be a
fan and I have been trying to avoid telephonic contacts with him. "On being asked as to how Uttam Chand got my cell phone number, I
state that I do not know how he got my cell phone number. "On being asked how if I was avoiding telephonic contacts with him,
I have also rung him up on many occasions, I state that he used to
sometimes say that if you do not talk to me, you will fall into bad luck
and hence I used to ring him back and just talk to him because of
superstition. On being asked whether I am aware that Uttam Chand is a well
known bookie of Chennai, I state that some time, a few months ago I got an
inkling to this effect because of the conversation he used to have with
me. "On being asked why I continued my telephonic contact with him even
after my suspicion that he was bookie, I state that I cannot explain this
aspect. "On being asked if I received any money from Uttam Chand for the
information I provided, I state that I do not remember having received any
money. "On being asked how in the face of clear evidence linking me to
Uttam Chand I do not admit to any wrong doing, I state that I do not want
to discuss these things and you can draw your own conclusions." 175. When I started questioning Ajay Jadeja regarding Uttam Chand, his
statements were to me not clear and were often confusing. In order to make
it easier for him and myself and for the reader to comprehend Ajay
Jadeja's pleas regarding Uttam Chand, I recorded this statement of Ajay
Jadeja in question and answer form which is reproduced below:- "8). In so far as Uttam Chand is concerned, I shall now tell you
with reference to each sentence of my statement recorded by the CBI as to
what I had told the CBI. a) On being asked I state that I do not know any person named Uttam Chand
of Chennai. This is correct. b) On being confronted with my telephone printouts as well as Uttam
Chand's telephone printout which discloses very frequent telephonic
contact between us just before International cricket matches, I state that
probably I know him and I recognise the cell phone number, but I know this
person as Gupta. The CBI did show me only one page of print out of Uttam Chand telephone
and it was in respect to this that I gave the aforesaid statement. I
reiterate that I knew that person not as Uttam Chand, but as Gupta. c) On being asked how it is possible for a person not knowing me so well
to contact me so frequently over telephone, I state that this person has
been ringing me up for the past one or two years and claiming to be a fan
and I have been trying to avoid telephonic contacts with him later on. This is generally correct. d) On being asked as to how Uttam Chand got my cell phone number, I state
I do not know how he got my cell phone number. This is correct. e) On being asked how if I was avoiding telephonic contacts with him, I
have also rang him upon many occasions, I state that he used to some time
say that if you do not talk to me, you will fall into bad luck and hence I
used to ring him back and just talk to him because of superstition. This is generally correct. In addition to this, I would like to say that
apart from superstition, on some occasion I might have called him back
even when I was not playing any match. On some occasions, when I was not
well, Gupta of Chennai might have called to enquire about my health. I
might have returned the call later. f) On being asked whether I am aware that Uttam Chand is a well-known
bookie of Chennai, I state that some time, a few months ago I got an
inkling to this effect because of the conversation he used to have with
me. This is generally correct because I got such inkling when the frequency
of his calls became too many and also because of the nature of the
questions which he used to ask. g)
On being asked why I continued my telephonic contact with him, even
after my suspicion that he was a bookie, I state that I cannot explain
this aspect. What I told CBI was I was not aware that he was a bookie and had only an
inkling. It was due to this that our telephonic contacts continued. The
CBI officers then said that this cannot happen and therefore it is not a
proper explanation. I then said that I have no further explanation. h) On being asked if I received any money from Uttam Chand for the
information I provided, I state that I do not remember having received any
money. What I told the CBI was I had never met this person and had not received
any money from him. i) On being asked how in the face of clear evidence
linking me to Uttam Chand I do not admit any wrong doing, I state that I
do not want to discuss these things and you can draw your own conclusions.
I will explain what actually took place during my examination by CBI.
Towards the end of my questioning about Uttam Chand, I found that the CBI
officer was not willing to accept the explanations which I had offered to
them as now stated by me before you and it was in that context that I told
them to the effect that if you do not believe what I have told you, you
can draw your own conclusion." 176. Even a plain reading of the statement made by Ajay Jadeja before me
would convince anyone that Ajay Jadeja was not at all speaking the truth
before me. Firstly, he makes a distinction that he knew the said person
only as Gupta and not as Uttam Chand. As their contacts have been
frequent, this is not believable. However, he does admit that the said
person had been ringing him up frequently for the past one or two years.
He stated however that he had been trying to avoid telephonic contacts
with him 'later on'. The carefully used term 'later on' obviously refers
to the period after the match fixing allegation became public knowledge on
8th April, 2000. He claims that he did not know as to how Uttam Chand got
his cell phone number. Regarding the calls made by Ajay Jadeja to Uttam
Chand, the plea taken by him before CBI was 'superstition'. Before me, he however, added that Gupta of Chennai might have called him
to enquire about his health and he might have returned the calls later. It
is inconceivable that a healthy, strong and athletic young man like Ajay
Jadeja would have ailments, which required frequent enquiries from Uttam
Chand or any other person. Obviously, he has taken this additional plea
under legal advice as taking the plea of superstition before me also might
not be good enough and therefore some more trumped up ground should also
be added. While admitting that he had a inkling that Gupta of Chennai
could be a bookie, he could not explain why the contacts were frequent. He told the CBI, "I cannot explain this aspect".
Before me, however, he stated that when he told the CBI that he had only
an 'inkling' to that effect and therefore, the telephonic conversation
continued, the CBI officers then said that this cannot happen and
therefore it was not a proper explanation. Ajay Jadeja then told the CBI
that he had no further explanation which was recorded by the CBI as,
"I cannot explain this aspect". A very ingeneous plea indeed;
but not believable. 177. So far as receiving money from Uttam Chand for the information
provided is concerned, Ajay Jadeja had told the CBI that he did not
remember having received any money. Before me, however, he stated
"What I told the CBI was, I had never met this person and had not
received any money from him". His demeanour before me clearly
indicated that he was not speaking the truth. 178. Regarding the last part of his statement relating to Uttam Chand,
when he told the CBI that he did not want to discuss these things and CBI
could draw their own conclusions, he stated before me that he found that
the CBI officer was not willing to accept the explanations which he had
offered to them and it was in this context that he told them to the effect
that if CBI did not believe what he had told them, they could draw their
own conclusion! Continue...... |
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