AJAY JADEJA

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......