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Prabhakar, tehelka.com sent legal notice

Onkar Singh, in Delhi

V N Kaura, advocate for former India captain Kapil Dev, has sent a legal notice to Manoj Prabhakar and tehelka.com asking them to retract the statements made against his client and apologize within seven days of the receipt of the notice, failing which he will initiate appropriate legal action and seek damages from both of them.

"I am only sending a notice at the moment, because developments are still taking place, and at the moment I would not be able to assess the damage that has been caused to the reputation of my client. Besides, I have to also assess Prabhakar and tehelka.com's ability to pay. It is no point asking for damages that he cannot pay. I would give them just seven days to retract their statement and issue an apology to our satisfaction and in the form suited to us. It could be in print, on a web site or television, or all of them taken together," Kaura told rediff.com on Monday evening.

Manoj Prabhakar's counsel, Nidesh Gupta's office, said they have not still received the notice and will take suitable action once it is received. Similar response was also received on behalf of tehelka.com, the web site that helped Prabhakar to put together a 90-minute video tape as supportive evidence to the former cricketer's allegations against Kapil Dev.

Prabhakar, in his deposition before the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is now investigating match-fixing allegations against Indian cricketers and officials, had alleged that Kapil Dev offered him Rs 25 lakh to under perform in a match against Pakistan, in the 1994 Singer Cup Tournament. Incidentally, the match never took place because of heavy rain.

Navjot Singh Sidhu today refused to say anything on the matter. Speaking to rediff.com from his Patiala residence, the former India opener said he has nothing to add beyond whatever he told the CBI in his deposition last week. Sources close to him, however, confirmed that Sherry (Sidhu) was upset with Prabhakar for having betrayed his trust and video-taped a private conversation without his permission.

Former India skipper Bishen Singh Bedi, who had helped Prabhakar in organsing a meeting with BCCI president A C Muthiah which was also video-taped by Prabhakar, said Prabhakar has shown his true colours by resorting to unethical means to get evidence in his support.

Anirudha Bahal, the journalist who accompanied Prabhakar in last two months and helped in capturing various cricketers and cricket administrators off guard, felt that Prabhakar has done nothing unethical about taping evidence in support of his allegations.

"For over two months we have visited almost all parts of the country and met top cricket players and administrators. We have exposed the double standards of the players and administrators alike. They say one thing in private and another in public. We have helped Prabhakar in getting evidence.

"But this does not mean that we are carrying any banner for him. If you have a story against him, go right ahead and break the story. If you had seen the film you would see that we did not remove the name of Prabhakar when Rakesh Maria one of the Mumbai police officers mentioned his name along with other players who have been allegedly involved in the match-fixing. We have exposed the whole thing and it is for the BCCI to take suitable action on this and clear up the mess," said Bahal.

CBI joint director R N Savani, who is heading the investigations in the match-fixing case, said that nobody has approached his team with the tapes so far. "If Prabhakar and tehelka.com approach us with all the tapes they have with them, we would certainly like to have a look at them and then decide what to do. The tapes would certainly form part of evidence, but how much of it would be of use to us would be determined only after we go through the tapes," Savani told rediff.com.

Asked if the names of underworld dons like Dawood Ibrahim, Chota Shakeel, Bada Shakeel and some others has given a serious turn to the investigations, Savani said that the investigations in the match-fixing case had been serious from day one onwards.

"We have never said that we are not serious about it. We are hearing all sorts of stories about what the tapes consist off. Once we have seen the tapes, we will decide the future course of action. Some witnesses may have to be called all over again," said Savani.

Would the CBI investigate allegations of match-fixing against Manoj Prabhakar as well?

"We do not go by merely what has been printed in a particular magazine. But if some one comes up with solid evidence then we would definitely look into it also," he added.

Meanwhile, a Delhi police officer investigating the Hansie Cronje case said that he had heard about some of the comments made by a former captain about a certain player's association with Sanjeev Chalwa, the key accused in the case.

"Since CBI is looking into the overall match-fixing case, therefore, it would be proper for the agency to deal with it as it deems fit. However, we would still like to see the tape and note the contents. Maybe, it would help us. But let me assure you that at no stage did any name of an Indian player crop up during our investigations," said Dr K K Paul, joint commissioner of Police, heading the investigations in the Cronje case.

The Betting Scandal: The full story