Srinagar Court denies anticipatory bail to duo in IHPL fraud
Srinagar, Feb 14: A Court here Saturday declined to grant anticipatory bail to two persons who are among several accused in alleged multi-crore fraud linked to the Indian Heaven Premier League (IHPL) that ended up in a fiasco in November last year.
The Court of Additional Sessions Judge Srinagar Farooq Ahmad Bhat rejected anticipatory bail petitions by Surender Khanna and Nirmal Sidhu.
Khana was projected as “League Commissioner” and Sidhu, according to police was among other accused who fled from the hotel without informing the hotel management or the players and without paying the pending hotel bills and match fees of the players and sports staff.
The court rejected the petitions of the duo in keeping with the principles laid down by the Supreme Court in numerous judgments on the scope of anticipatory bail.
While the court underscored that economic offences stand on a different footing due to their wider societal impact, it said: “The material collected during investigation prima facie disclosed serious offences”. Moreover, the court held that one co-accused had already been arrested and charge-sheeted while others were allegedly evading arrest.
As the court noted that no exceptional grounds existed to grant protection from arrest, it directed the accused Khanna and Sidhu to surrender before the investigating agency or the competent court for custodial interrogation in accordance with law.
The investigation is ongoing, and police have indicated that supplementary charge sheets may be filed after further arrests and examination of financial records, the court said.
According to the prosecution, the accused were associated with the organisation of the IHPL, a cricket tournament allegedly conducted under the banner of Yuva Society.
Notably, IHPL had featured famous international cricketers like Chris Gayle and Jesse Ryder. The FIR was registered by the police on the basis of a complaint wherein the complainant alleged that the organisers invited national and international players and support staff with assurances of match fees and full hospitality, including accommodation at Radisson Collection Hotel, Srinagar.
The complaint had alleged that during the night of November 1-2, last year, key organisers of the league fled from the hotel without clearing pending dues of players, staff, and hotel management.
The FIR, registered under Sections 318 (cheating) and 318(4) (criminal breach of trust) of BNS against the organisers of IHPL, further said that the ticket money was collected from spectators for scheduled matches that were not played, and trial fees were charged from local cricketers.
According to the investigation findings, the bank statements of Yuva Society reflect transactions exceeding Rs 4 crore during the relevant period. Police also seized documents, electronic evidence, call detail records (CDRs), and letters of intent (LOIs), which allegedly indicate involvement of several individuals linked to the league.
In his plea, Khanna claimed he was merely invited as a face of the league and had no role in financial transactions. He stated that he had joined the investigation upon being served notice.
Sidhu’s plea was based on the contention that he was not named in the FIR and that no specific role was attributed to him.
Opposing the bail pleas, the prosecution said that the allegations disclose a pre-planned economic offence involving significant public money and multiple victims. The investigating agency maintained that custodial interrogation was necessary to trace the money trail and uncover the broader conspiracy.
