Vadodara: Former India cricketer Jacob Martin has been acquitted by the additional chief judicial magistrate Patiala House Courts in New Delhi in the cheating and forgery case registered against him in 2004.Martin, ex-Baroda Ranji captain, was booked by the Indira Gandhi International Airport police 22 years ago after his name cropped up in a case related to illegal migration to the UK.Two persons including Nimesh Patel, who tried to settle in the UK illegally, were arrested by the police in the case. Patel was deported to India by the UK authorities when the officials there found a stamp on his passport was counterfeit. Patel had alleged that Martin had taken him to the UK under the pretext of being a member of a cricket club and he met a person there with the latter’s reference for getting a fake stamp on his passport.Martin was also arrested by the IGI Airport police in 2011 and he was granted bail later.The court observed that there was no evidence that Martin took money from Patel and his family members and it was not proved by the prosecution that he was the owner of the sports club whose team was taken abroad. The court said that as per the letter issued by immigration, SVPI Airport Ahmedabad, Patel had departed from India to the UK in August 2004 but the prosecution’s case was that he had gone to the UK in 2003 as a player with Martin.‘This fact proves that there was no relation whatsoever with the journey of Nimesh Kumar with accused Jacob Martin in 2003 and the alleged fake stamp in question,’ the court said.The court further said that the prosecution failed to prove that Martin entered into conspiracy with Patel and other persons for getting the fake stamp on the passport.Martin said that it marks the culmination of a difficult legal journey during which he remained steadfast in his faith in the judicial process.Martin (54) has played four test matches for India along with 11 one-day-internationals. He has also served as a coach and selector in the Baroda Cricket Association.
