HC judge to probe bogus ticket scam

Sandesh Prabhudesai
5 September 2001  

Almost five months after the bogus ticket scam at the final cricket ODI played between India and Australia on 6 April came to light, the state government has now ordered judicial probe into the whole affair.

The state police, in the meanwhile, have filed two different chargesheets against former deputy chief minister Dayanand Narvekar, who heads the Goa Cricket Association, along with his officials as well as ticket contractor and his accomplices.

The high court was informed about the judicial probe while disposing of a petition filed by P G Kakodkar, former chairman of the State Bank of India, who was lathicharged along with around 15,000 other cricket fans on the day of the match.

Justice M L Pendse, a retired high court judge, will inquire into the whole affair of the cricket scam. While police are inquiring into the criminal angles of the case, Justice Pendse is expected to also probe into the functioning of the GCA as a whole.

On the other hand, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has also started investigating into the functioning of the GCA, who officially conducts international cricket matches in Goa. BCCI executive secretary Sharad Diwadkar was here last week in this regard.

The immediate issue before the BCCI is to decide who is the GCA secretary as the ad-hoc committee, appointed by the court while taking away powers from Narvekar as well as his secretary Vinod Phadke for a while, had appointed another secretary.

Meanwhile, Narvekar and nine others have been formally chargesheeted in two different cases - one pertaining to bogus ticket scam and other one pertaining to endangering human life. They appeared before the courts in last two days.

The police investigations charge Narvekar and two other GCA officials for conspiring with contractor Chinmay Fallari in printing and selling over 20,000 bogus tickets while almost 15,000 cricket fans were lathicharged outside Fatorda stadium before the match started as the stadium was already overpacked.

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