New Delhi, May 27: The draft of the Centre’s promised law against spot and match-fixing prescribes a jail term between six months and five years and has no provisions for attachment of convicts’ property, sources told The Telegraph.

They said the maximum five-year term would be awarded only to those identified as the masterminds, or those guilty of “changing the course of the tournament” —probably by rigging several games.

In other words, a player, bookie or anyone else involved in spot-fixing in a couple of games, or fixing a particular match, are likely to escape the maximum punishment.

Legal sources said the draft, which will be published to encourage a public debate, fell short of the expectations raised when the Centre announced it would pass a standalone law to deal with all acts of corruption in any sport, including spot-fixing in cricket.

For instance, they said, if the money-laundering law provides for the attachment of offenders’ property, so should the law against fixing which can lead to the accumulation of unaccounted assets.

They also pointed out that a person can be jailed for life for criminal breach of trust, which is similar to the offence of fixing that amounts to a betrayal of the trust of millions of sports fans.

The draft bill, however, makes the offence non-bailable, which means only a judicial magistrate will have the power to grant bail.

Overseas ambit

The proposed legislation will apply to both domestic and international Indian cricketers as well as foreign players playing in India, and even to overseas games involving Indian teams.

For instance, Indian and foreign players playing a match involving an Indian team at Lord’s or Melbourne can be booked and prosecuted in India for offences relating to match-fixing and spot fixing.