No action against Mohammed Shami till we see charge sheet: BCCI

While India star Mohammed Shami was busy playing in the Caribbeans, Kolkata’s Alipore Court, on Monday, issued an arrest warrant against him. Shami landed in legal trouble due to the domestic violence case registered against him in 2018 by his estranged wife Hasin Jahan. The pacer now has 15 days to surrender and apply for bail. In March last year, Shami had found himself in the mid of the storm after his wife leveled some eye-popping allegations against him.

Jahan posted a number of photos of Shami’s chats with other women and claimed that her husband was having extra-marital affairs. Not only that, but she had also alleged that she was a victim of domestic violence. Later, she had lodged an official police complaint in Kolkata following which an FIR was registered against Shami and other members of his family.

The FIR was registered under several Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections, including section 498A, which amounts to cruelty to a woman by her husband or his relatives. The other charges recorded against Shami are under Section 307 – attempt to murder, Section 323 – punishment for voluntarily causing hurt, Section 376 – rape, Section 506 – criminal intimidation, Section 328 and Section 34.

Unsurprisingly, that episode had affected Shami mentally. He was also left out of the new BCCI central contracts before the board handed him one. Throughout the episode, Shami maintained that he was innocent before the court issued their latest verdict. However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has made it clear that no action will be taken against the bowler until they see the charge sheet. A BCCI functionary said that it was too early to take any action in the matter.

“Yes, we do understand that an arrest warrant has been issued. But don’t really see us getting involved in this at this point in time. Once we see the charge sheet, we can decide how things stand and if the BCCI constitution calls for any action. But at this point in time, I would say it is too early to take a call on the matter,” the functionary was quoted as saying by TOI.

Different process

The functionary further insisted that the BCCI is likely to follow a different process once they see the charge sheet. The board had held back Mohammed Shami’s contract last year but is unlikely to do so again. He said that the board was compelled to do so last time because of fixing claims from Shami’s wife.

“That was different. There were allegations that Shami had indulged in fixing games. So, the CoA felt that it was only fair that then ACU (Anti-Corruption Unit) chief Neeraj Kumar looked into the claims and submitted a report before Shami was handed his contract. The ACU chief had cleared him of any wrongdoing on the cricketing front after which he was handed his contract.”

“This time round, it is more a case of domestic violence. As things stand now, his contract doesn’t need to be terminated. I am sure Shami will do the needful once he is back in the country after the second Test against the West Indies ends,” the functionary explained.

Shami is currently in West Indies and is expected to return to India this week. India, on Monday, beat West Indies by 257 runs in the second Test to end the tour on a strong note.

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