Delhi court grants bail to bookie Sanjeev Chawla in match-fixing case

A Delhi court has granted bail to Sanjeev Chawla, an alleged bookie and key accused in one of the cricket's biggest match-fixing scandals that involved former South African captain Hansie Cronje. Special Judge Ashutosh Kumar granted the relief to Chawla on a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh with two sureties of the like amount on April 30.

The court said the accused was in custody for the last 76 days and the probe was already complete in the case. The court, however, directed him to give his voice sample and handwriting specimen to the investigating officer in the case. According to police, Chawla, who was extradited from London in February, was involved in fixing of five matches.

Cronje, who died in a plane crash in 2002, was also involved, police had told the court. Chawla was alleged to have played a central role in conspiring with Cronje to fix a South African tour to India in February-March, 2000. The British court documents say that Chawla is a Delhi-born businessman who moved to the United Kingdom on a business visa in 1996 but continued to make trips to India.