Sanjeev Chawla, main fixer accused in Cronje case, to be handed over to India

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Sanjeev Chawla, the main accused in the Hansie Cronje match-fixing case, will finally be handed over to the Indian government. Chawla is expected to be extradited from the United Kingdom to India over the next 28 days after his application for leave to appeal against the decision was turned down by two high court judges. The Delhi Police team of DCP Ram Gopal Naik and inspector Keshav Mathur have gone to London and will return with Chawla.

Mathur was investigating the match-fixing saga.

bookie-sanjeev-chawla-involved-in-hansie-cronje-caseAccording to sources, Chawla will not even be able to go and appeal in the Supreme Court as he has not been granted leave to appeal.

Chawla, who was born in India, has lived in the UK since 1996. He will become the second person to be extradited to India since the Treaty was signed between the UK and India in 1992. So far, only Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was accused in the Gujarat riots of 2002, has been extradited from the UK to the country.

On Thursday, Lord Justice Bean and Justice Lewis had turned down Chawla’s request to appeal. “We are quite satisfied that permission for an appeal should be refused. In many extradition cases where it is said prison conditions of the requesting state are unacceptable, the requesting state may say we are giving assurance and the requested person may end up in privileged position compared to the common old gardener prisoner arrested on the streets of Delhi,” Justice Bean stated.

Chawla had been in talks with South African Cronje for match-fixing in 2000, with Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje, and Pieter Strydom also being accused. Cronje was banned for life following an investigation.

On June 1, 2002, Cronje, unfortunately, passed away after his flight to Johannesburg from George was grounded. He hitched a ride aboard another aircraft, but the pilots lost visibility near George and were unable to land. While circling around the Outeniqua Mountains, the plans crashed, and Cronje, aged 32, was killed.

However, reports later floated that Cronje was murdered to hide the truths about the match-fixing details.