Out on bail, Ankeet Chavan claims he gave his all to cricket, reposes faith in judiciary

Mumbai: Out on bail, former Rajasthan Royals cricketer Ankeet Chavan on Thursday pleaded innocence over his alleged involvement in spot-fixing during the recently concluded sixth-edition of Indian Premier League, adding that he has always given his "100 percent" to the game.

Addressing a press conference here, Chavan, who walked out of Delhi’s Tihar Jail late on Tuesday night, refused to comment further over the spot-fixing controversy.

He however, added he has complete faith in country's judiciary.

The left-arm spinner was arrested by Delhi Police Special Cell along with fellow RR cricketers S Sreesanth and Ajit Chandila on May 16 from Mumbai for allegedly being involved in spot-fixing.

After a grueling 26-day stay in Tihar, Saket Court on Monday found no prima facie evidence for invoking stringent provisions of MCOCA on the arrested cricketers and bookies.

"There is no reason for believing that the accused are guilty under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) at this stage," Additional Sessions Judge Vinay Kumar Khanna said.

The court further said there is, prima facie, "no sufficient material" against the accused to establish their "nexus" with organised crime syndicate.

Besides the two cricketers, the court also granted the relief to 17 other accused, including 14 bookies, on a personal bond of Rs. 50,000 with one surety of the like amount.

Sreesanth was in police custody for the first 13 days while for the rest of the period he was lodged in Tihar Jail.

In between, Chavan was granted interim bail for his marriage.