Former co-owner of a Mumbai T20 League franchise, Gurmeet Singh Bhamrah, has been officially banned by the BCCI Ombudsman, Justice (Retd) Arun Mishra, for attempting to make a corrupt approach to players Dhawal Kulkarni and Bhavin Thakkar during the 2019 edition of the league. Kulkarni, a seasoned medium pacer, has previously represented India in 12 ODIs and two T20 Internationals.
Bhamrah, who also had ties with the now-defunct GT20 Canada, was the co-owner of SoBo Supersonics, one of the participating teams in the Mumbai T20 League. Notably, the league is set for a revival this year after a prolonged hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced its suspension post-2019.
While the order issued by the Ombudsman does not explicitly mention the duration of the ban, under the BCCI Anti-Corruption Code, the punishment for such offenses ranges from a minimum of five years to a lifetime ban.
The official document stated: “Upon completion of investigation, ACU submitted its report and wherein it recommended that respondent be charged with article 2.1.3, 2.1.4, 2.4.1 read with article 2.5.1 and article 2.5.2 of BCCI Anti Corruption Code (hereinafter the ‘Code’) for participants.”
“ACU further recommended that appropriate orders may be passed against the respondent under the provisions of Article 4 and Article 5 of the Code.”
According to the Anti-Corruption Code, violations under Articles 2.1.1 to 2.1.4 carry strict penalties, including lengthy bans from all cricket-related activities.
The investigation revealed that a person named Sonu Vasan had approached Thakkar on Bhamrah’s behalf, making an offer to fix matches. The players involved referred to Bhamrah as `Paaji`.
“Transcript of the conversation shows that Sonu Vasan offered money and other benefits to Bhavin Thakkar at the behest of the respondent. Upon meriting the entire offer that he made on behalf of the respondent, Sonu Vasan told Bhavin Thakkar whatever call Thakkar wishes to take in the matter, Vasan would relay it back to the respondent,” the order noted.
“Even prior to Thakkar’s denial to be a part of wrongdoing, Vasan also mentioned that he was asked by ‘Paaji’ that in case Thakkar’s reply was in the affirmative to the offer of under-performing/wrongdoing, ‘Paaji’ has asked that he i.e. the respondent could in fact be joined in on the same telephone call.”
As for Kulkarni, the order only confirmed that his statement was recorded by the ACU, without delving into further specifics.
(With inputs from PTI)
