IPL fixing: Vindoo’s lawyer slams cops as he, Meiyappan get bail

Small-time actor Vindu Dara Singh and Gurunath Meiyappan, 'principal' of the Chennai Super Kings IPL cricket team, were today granted bail by a Mumbai court.

The lawyer for Vindoo said they may seek compensation from the Bombay High Court for wrongful arrest and character assassination.

Meiyappan (35) was arrested on the night of 25 May 25 for his alleged involvement in the IPL betting scandal. He was in the eye of a storm after reality show winner Vindu, arrested on 22 May for alleged links with bookies, admitted to having placed bets on his and Gurunath's behalf.

Besides Vindu and Meiyappan, the son-in-law of N Srinivasan who on Monday stepped aside as president of the Board for Control of Cricket in India, six bookies too were granted bail.

The bail conditions include a bond of Rs25,000 each; an undertaking to report to the police crime branch every alternate day, and no travel abroad.

The duo moved the bail applications on Monday after the metropolitan magistrate remanded them in judicial custody till 14 June.

The court also asked all of them to not leave the country and report to the Crime Branch every alternate day.

The lawyers of Meiyappan and Vindu argued that their custodial interrogation was not required.

Vindoo's lawyer Satish Maneshinde later said, ''The case under which my client was arrested is illegal and I think we should apply for compensation to the high court.''

He pointed out that there was no law presently against betting and it was wrong to parade the duo as the prime accused in the case. Maneshinde also pointed out that the duo was charged under sections that were bailable and yet had been kept in custody for over a week.

He hinted at a deeper conspiracy within the BCCI that had resulted in Vindoo and Meiyappan being arrested in a case registered in Mumbai.

''This is the second time that in a political war in the BCCI such a case has been registered. It should not have been done,'' he said.