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Diplomacy is the latest casualty in betting scandal

Amberish K Diwanji in New Delhi

The betting scandal involving South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje is turning into a diplomatic row, despite the efforts of the ministry of external affairs to play it down.

South Africa's High Commissioner for India Maite Nkoana Mashabane Monday afternoon met Joint Secretary (Africa) Pavan Verma for 45 minutes. Both sides reiterated that Indo-South African relations were close and cordial.

But Mashabane denied the Indian claim that the South Africans were "officially informed prior" to the Delhi police making the so-called Cronje tapes public on Friday at 1700 IST.

Mashabane insisted that the first time she was being officially intimated about the scandal was during Monday's meeting. "We at the South African high commission had no prior information," she declared, not once but thrice.

"Our meeting today was the first official meeting between the Indian authorities and the South African high commission in New Delhi. And this is the first time we are being officially informed about the case by the Indian authorities," she said.

The external affairs ministry, however, denied the charge. In a press statement, it insisted that its High Commissioner in Pretoria Harsh Bhasin "had informed the South African side prior to the case being made public."

But a bureaucrat in the MEA admitted that "officially" the high commission in Pretoria had informed the South African government only on Sunday. He refused comment on why the Indian side had not informed the South Africans unofficially.

"This is a case concerning an individual in a private capacity; the MEA has a limited role since it does not really come into the picture," he said.

He insisted the South African side had been informed, but was unable to confirm the nature of the communication.

The MEA also said that once the scandal became public, it had kept its embassy open to answer queries. "Our line of communication in Pretoria was open all through the weekend, but we did not receive any calls from the South African side because it was the weekend," the official added.

South Africa would be kept informed about further developments, he said.

Both sides were clear that the "law will take its own course."

The Delhi police had informed the MEA about the case before going public. Some news reports said that it had even sought the clearance of Foreign Secretary Lalit Mansingh on the matter, which was granted. The MEA official confirmed that the Delhi police had kept them intimated.

Given the fact that India has no extradition treaty with South Africa, there is little that the Delhi police, which has filed the chargesheet against Cronje, or the MEA can do.

As per the law, once the proceedings begin it is for the Indian court to summon Hansie Cronje to appear before it.

Since it is a criminal case, the Indian court will send the summons to its counterpart in South Africa, and it is up to the South African court to decide what course of action to take.

"The South African court may seek extradition proceedings or seek to try the person concerned in a South African court," the MEA official said.

The question of asking Interpol to intervene and use its red warrant does not arise since the international agency's role is limited to investigating criminal cases and providing evidence. Interpol is not involved in extradition, nor does it take part in the legal process.

Meanwhile, MEA sources agreed that while the case could be embarrassing, Indo-South African relations were too deep and wide to be affected by an individual case, no matter how grave. "Our relation is centuries old and very deep, this case is just a blip, though it does appear big now," the sources said.

They also said that the very angry response within South Africa to the charges was understandable, given Cronje's popularity in that country. "Just imagine if some foreign country claimed that our players had taken bribes, all hell will break loose here. This is just an emotional response that will die down soon," the sources added.

Both India and South Africa are working to control the damage and prevent the controversy from taking ugly overtones.

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