Indian government plans match-fixing law

The Indian government is planning to pass legislation that will enforce a heavy penalty for match-fixing, following the Indian Premier League (IPL)’s recent spot-fixing cricket scandal.

The Delhi police force has questioned and arrested several players and bookmakers in light of IPL Rajasthan Royals team’s involvement to spot-fixing, including former Indian test cricketer S. Sreesanth.

Match-fixing is currently not a prosecuting offence in law, but authorities can provide sanctions under a cheating and fraud section of the IPC (Indian Politics Cricket).

“The present provisions of the IPC don't allow prosecution for match-fixing as it is not an offence. That is why it is necessary to come up with a special enactment to deal with this," union law minister Kapil Sibal told The Indian Express.