Mumbai, June 3
A local court today reserved till tomorrow its order on the bail applications filed by CSK team principal Gurunath Meiyappan and actor Vindoo Dara Singh arrested in connection with IPL spot-fixing scandal. Meiyappan and Vindoo filed bail pleas soon after the Metropolitan Magistrate remanded them in judicial custody till June 14. Urging the court to grant them bail, the duo’s lawyers argued that their custodial interrogation was not required.

Meiyappan’s lawyer Aabad Ponda argued that the CSK team honcho was not involved in match-fixing or spot-fixing. “The one case is that of placing bets with Vindoo. Placing bets is a bailable offence. All sections levelled against him are bailable, except three-420, 466 and 468 of the IPC. It is not the case that Meiyappan forged documents, hence 466 and 468 are not applicable,” he argued.

Relying on a Supreme Court judgment, Ponda contended the basic rule was that in a case that did not fetch life imprisonment, the accused should be granted bail. None of the sections under which Meiyappan had been charged with invited life sentence, he said.

“Meiyappan responded to the summons issued to him by the police. There is no question of him absconding. Tapping of my phones and all other evidence has been taken by the police even prior to Meiyappan’s arrest,” Ponda argued.

Advocate Satish Maneshinde, appearing for Vindoo, argued the allegation against the arrested actor could be at the most only for contacting bookies, but it could not be said that he was part of the larger conspiracy.

Earlier, Meiyappan and Vindoo were produced before Additional Metropolitan Magistrate MN Saleem after their police custody ended today. The court remanded the duo in judicial custody since the police did not provide sufficient cause for extension of police custody.

“There is no further ground made out for police custody of the accused and they are remanded in judicial custody,” the court said.

Apart from Meiyappan and Vindoo, the court also remanded Alpesh Patel, a hawala dealer, and Prem Taneja, an alleged bookie, in judicial custody till June 14.

Arguing for the extension of their police custody, the public prosecutor told the court that the accused needed to be interrogated further about the financial transactions they had entered into with the bookies. However, the defence argued that all of them had spent enough time in police custody for investigators to probe them at length.