Is match-fixing a crime? A Bengaluru case is now before the Supreme Court

What happened in 2019

In November 2019, the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Bengaluru Police began investigating allegations of betting and spot-fixing in the Karnataka Premier League (KPL), a T20 tournament run by the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA). Several players, a coach, a franchise owner and others were arrested and questioned. As per available reports, the police subsequently filed a charge sheet against 16 persons, and KPL matches were put on hold pending the investigation.

What KSCA did at the time

A press release issued by KSCA and signed by its then Hon. President Roger M. Binny records the action the association took while the investigation was underway. As per that document:

• Five persons who had been arrested and questioned — players C.M. Gautam, Abrar Kazi, Viswanathan M. and Nishant Shekhawat, and coach Vinoo Prasad — were suspended and barred from any cricketing activity organised by KSCA, and from availing services at the KSCA Sports Centre.
• Player Bhavesh Gulecha was suspended for not having kept KSCA authorities informed of illegal approaches made to him.
• Sudhindra P. Shinde, elected to the KSCA Managing Committee on 3 October 2019, was asked not to attend Managing Committee meetings or participate in KSCA cricketing activity, in view of his questioning over alleged involvement in KPL-related activities prior to his election.
• Mr and Mrs Asfak Ali Thara, owners of the Belagavi Panthers franchise, were suspended, with KSCA stating the franchise would be terminated if they were found guilty.
• KSCA refused to accept, with effect from 18 January 2019, the appointment of Aravind Reddy as authorised representative and signatory for the Ballari Tuskers franchise and team.

Citizens may note that the release expressly described these as interim measures. KSCA stated the decisions would be reconsidered only after the investigation was complete, and that stringent action would follow if anyone was found guilty. The document is therefore a record of suspension pending investigation, not of any finding of guilt.

What the High Court held in 2022

By an order dated 10 January 2022, the Karnataka High Court quashed the criminal proceedings. As per available reports, the Court took the view that while match-fixing reflects dishonesty, indiscipline and mental corruption, it does not satisfy the ingredients of cheating under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, and that such conduct falls within the disciplinary jurisdiction of the cricket board rather than the criminal courts.

The practical effect was that the accused stood discharged from the criminal case on a question of law. The case did not go to trial on the facts.

What is before the Supreme Court now

The State of Karnataka has appealed against the High Court order. The matter is before a Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N. Kotiswar Singh.

On 22 April 2025, the Supreme Court observed that cricket match-fixing has serious ramifications for the country's economy, appointed Advocate Shivam Singh as amicus curiae to assist it, and listed the matter for further hearing.

The BCCI has filed an application seeking to intervene, supporting the position that match-fixing amounts to criminal cheating — under Section 420 IPC and Section 318 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita — on the reasoning that players who conceal a prior fixing arrangement dishonestly induce spectators to spend money and sponsors to invest. The application relies on the 276th Report of the Law Commission of India, which recommended that match-fixing be made a specific criminal offence.

As per publicly available information, the appeal appears to be pending. No final verdict of the Supreme Court on the question could be traced as on the date of this article. Readers may treat the position as subject to change.

Why this matters beyond cricket

India has no dedicated law criminalising sports fraud. Because of that gap, prosecutors have had to fit fixing allegations into general provisions such as cheating and criminal conspiracy, and the Karnataka High Court's ruling shows how uncertain that fit is. The question the Supreme Court is now considering is a narrow legal one with wide consequences: whether a fixed match is a crime against the paying public, or only a disciplinary matter internal to a sports body.

For Bengaluru, the case also raises a governance question that applies well beyond cricket — what a body that runs a public-facing tournament, using a public stadium and a public audience, is expected to do when its own participants are under criminal investigation, and what happens to those interim suspensions once the criminal case ends on a point of law. Citizens seeking clarity on the present status of the suspensions recorded in the 2019 press release would need to approach KSCA, as that information is not in the public domain.

What to watch

1. Whether the Supreme Court holds that match-fixing constitutes cheating under Section 420 IPC or Section 318 BNS.
2. Whether Parliament acts on the Law Commission's recommendation for a standalone sports-fraud offence.
3. What position KSCA and BCCI take on the disciplinary status of the individuals named in the 2019 release, once the criminal question is settled.

Sources: KSCA press release signed by Hon. President Roger M. Binny, issued during the 2019 CCB investigation; Karnataka High Court order dated 10.01.2022 as reported; Supreme Court proceedings as reported on 22.04.2025; BCCI intervention application as reported.

ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಾರಾಂಶ

2019ರ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಪ್ರೀಮಿಯರ್ ಲೀಗ್ (ಕೆಪಿಎಲ್) ಬೆಟ್ಟಿಂಗ್ ಮತ್ತು ಸ್ಪಾಟ್ ಫಿಕ್ಸಿಂಗ್ ಪ್ರಕರಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಸಿಸಿಬಿ ಪೊಲೀಸರು ಆಟಗಾರರು ಸೇರಿದಂತೆ ಹಲವರನ್ನು ಬಂಧಿಸಿದ್ದರು; ಕೆಎಸ್‌ಸಿಎ ತನಿಖೆ ಮುಗಿಯುವವರೆಗೆ ಆಟಗಾರರನ್ನು ಅಮಾನತುಗೊಳಿಸಿತ್ತು. 2022ರ ಜನವರಿ 10ರ ಆದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಹೈಕೋರ್ಟ್, ಮ್ಯಾಚ್ ಫಿಕ್ಸಿಂಗ್ ಅಪ್ರಾಮಾಣಿಕತೆ ಮತ್ತು ಶಿಸ್ತುಭಂಗವಾದರೂ ಐಪಿಸಿ ಸೆಕ್ಷನ್ 420ರ ವಂಚನೆ ಅಪರಾಧದ ಅಂಶಗಳನ್ನು ಒಳಗೊಳ್ಳುವುದಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂದು ಹೇಳಿ ಕ್ರಿಮಿನಲ್ ಪ್ರಕರಣವನ್ನು ರದ್ದುಗೊಳಿಸಿತ್ತು. ಈ ತೀರ್ಪಿನ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಸರ್ಕಾರ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸಿರುವ ಮೇಲ್ಮನವಿ ಸುಪ್ರೀಂ ಕೋರ್ಟ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಚಾರಣೆಯಲ್ಲಿದೆ; ಮ್ಯಾಚ್ ಫಿಕ್ಸಿಂಗ್ ವಂಚನೆ ಅಪರಾಧವೇ ಎಂಬ ನಿಲುವಿಗೆ ಬೆಂಬಲವಾಗಿ ಬಿಸಿಸಿಐ ಮಧ್ಯಪ್ರವೇಶ ಅರ್ಜಿ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸಿದೆ. ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ರೀಡಾ ವಂಚನೆಗೆ ಪ್ರತ್ಯೇಕ ಕಾನೂನು ಇಲ್ಲ; ಕಾನೂನು ಆಯೋಗದ 276ನೇ ವರದಿ ಮ್ಯಾಚ್ ಫಿಕ್ಸಿಂಗ್ ಅನ್ನು ಪ್ರತ್ಯೇಕ ಅಪರಾಧವನ್ನಾಗಿಸಲು ಶಿಫಾರಸು ಮಾಡಿದೆ. ಸುಪ್ರೀಂ ಕೋರ್ಟ್ ತೀರ್ಪು ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟ್ ಮಾತ್ರವಲ್ಲದೆ ಎಲ್ಲ ಕ್ರೀಡೆಗಳಿಗೂ ನಿರ್ಣಾಯಕವಾಗಲಿದೆ.