New Delhi, April 20: Delhi Police's case against Hansie Cronje and Co. seems to be falling apart as neither bribery nor attempts to 'fix' a cricket match are chargeable offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

In a move likely to have far-reaching consequences, a judge of the Delhi High Court today observed that there was no section under the IPC under which he could proceeed on the charges of match-fixing and bribery.

Justice MSA Siddique told the Crime Branch of Delhi Police that there was an ambiguity in the charges made against the accused under the three sections of the IPC - 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 and 420/34 (both relating to cheating/fraud) - that the First Information Report (No. 111) was registered under. None of the three sections come anywhere remotely near either bribery or attempts to 'fix' a cricket match, the judge said.

The judge's comments came while granting interim bail to Kishan Kumar, one of the main accused in the case even as the Crime Branch sought extension of his remand. Kumar continues to be in Tihar Jail on charges of violating FERA. He was granted bail till April 25 when his plea for anticipatory bail comes up for hearing.

For good measure, the police came in for a rap from the judge, who pointed out that the manner in which they had proceeded after filing the FIR smacked of confusion. Granting interim bail to Kumar, whose phone tap first led police onto the trail of the alleged match-fixing business, Justice Siddique asked why it had taken the police so long to move on the matter when the FIR was first filed as far back as on April 6.

This, in fact, has been the opinion of a section of lawyers from early on. The best bet, they feel, is for the police to get at the accused on charges of cheating. The problem, as they point out, is who has been cheated? No one has yet come forward to say that he has lost money on a cricket match. To do so would be tantamount to admitting that he had gambled, which is a far-fetched possibility.

"This case will fizzle out on technical grounds," said one legal eagle. "There is no apparent case for cheating as no one has said he has been duped. There is basically no substance to the police's contention. At best, this case can proceed as one involving FERA violations, and that comes under the purview of the Enforcement Directorate, not the police."

According to police sources, there is a growing acceptance that this case is going nowhere. Hansie Cronje's confession gave their contention some teeth but realisation is dawning that this is about as far as the match-fixing and bribery issue will go. "At least his actions proved that we were on the right track," the source said. That is about all the consolation the police are likely to have, is the consensus among most lawyers.

Another area of weakness in the police case is proving the authenticity of the tapes on which Cronje's conversations with Sanjeev Chawla, another accused, have been recorded. Verification of recorded voices is a complicated and long-drawn business and rarely ends in a conviction on its own strength.

What however, really seems to have set the cat among the pigeons is the sort of names that have emerged in the follow-up to the taped conversations and subsequent investigations. Though all concerned are extremely tight-lipped, the fact that some extremely heavyweight political names have cropped up, has effectively checked progress.

As one close watcher of the Capital's political arena put it, with an understandable degree of cynicism: "Now you know why there is such a huge clamour to hand this case over to the CBI. It will ensure a quiet death to the whole affair."

As good an epitaph for good intentions as any.

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