The judge had to let criminals go in 2013 spot-fixing case as there was no law: Neeraj Kumar

Former Advisor to BCCI for their Anti-Corruption & Security Unit (ACSU), Neeraj Kumar, recently spoke to Sportskeeda. He revealed that a bill titled the 'Sports Integrity Bill' was pending in Parliament for 15 years.

"There is a bill before the Parliament which has been pending there for almost 15 years now. It is the Sports Integrity Bill. During my tenure as the BCCI ACU Head, I used to talk to the office-bearers and tell them that, 'We should lobby and try to push this bill so that it becomes an act.' Because corruption in sports has been criminalized in various countries," he added.

In an exclusive chat with Indranil Basu on Sportskeeda Cricket's Facebook Page, Neeraj Kumar discussed the illegal and corrupt activities in sports. He gave his view on legalizing sports betting in India and said that it would not help much even if the government took that decision, considering most of these monetary dealings involve black money.

Neeraj Kumar feels the need to have a strict law for spot-fixing and betting

I will never ever cheat cricket even when iam playing a friendly match..I don’t ball easy ones or try to loose..so pls get that right with everyone..I’m completely free of any charges nd anything nd now gonna represent the sport I love the most..I will give my very best to

— Sreesanth (@sreesanth36) September 10, 2020

Neeraj Kumar played a massive role in the match-fixing and spot-fixing scandals that hit cricket in 2000 and 2013.

When asked about his suggestions on how to eradicate the loopholes in this section, the retired Delhi Police Commissioner talked about how that was not even defined in any provision of the law, thereby making it difficult to mete out strict sanctions.

Kumar highlighted that if the 'Sports Integrity bill' had become an act, corruption in sports could have reduced a lot as the offenders would not have gotten away with little punishment - something that happened during the IPL 2013 spot-fixing case.

"Forget about stringent punishment. There's no law. The spot-fixing case of 2013 ended up by a virtual discharge by a trial court, and in her order, the judge said that 'I am letting everyone go because there's no law.' What is fixing? What is betting? It is not defined in any one law," he said.

Neeraj Kumar signed off by labeling India as the 'hotbed for corruption in sports.' To solidify his claim, he pointed out how most of the sports world's corrupt activities like spot-fixing and match-fixing had links to an Indian brain.

The IPL 2020 timetable has been updated check here.