Calcutta: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to stick to its ban for the time being after a trial court in Delhi dropped charges against Sreesanth and two others - Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila - in the 2013 spot-fixing scandal.

The Delhi police is set to appeal against the verdict.

"Any disciplinary proceeding or decision taken by the BCCI is independent to any criminal proceeding and has no bearing. The decisions of the BCCI, based on its independent disciplinary action, shall remain unaltered," the BCCI said in a statement.

All three had to spend time in jail during the course of the investigation.

The three cricketers were arrested in May-June 2013 for their alleged involvement in betting and spot-fixing during the IPL. While Sreesanth and Chavan were granted bail within a month, Chandila had to spend more than three months in prison before he was released on bail. The BCCI banned Sreesanth and Chavan in September 2013, while Chandila's case is pending before its disciplinary committee.

The penalties were decided upon by the disciplinary committee, comprising former BCCI president N. Srinivasan, Arun Jaitley and Niranjan Shah. The presence of Jaitley in the committee is significant since he is the second-most influential member of the Union cabinet after Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While the BCCI may not be bothered about the presence of Srinivasan and Shah, it would be tough for them to dismiss the punishment handed out by a committee, which included Jaitley.

Shah, when contacted by The Telegraph, refused to make a comment on Saturday's verdict. "I'm not aware of the details, and so it will not be proper for me to make a comment," said Shah.

In case the verdict stands, there will be pressure on the BCCI from different quarters to look into their standing against the cricketers.

The three cricketers were, however, hopeful of returning to the game. Sreesanth said he wanted to start training as soon as possible to get back into the selection process.

Interestingly, Neeraj Kumar, who is now chief advisor with the anti-corruption wing of the BCCI, was the Delhi commissioner of police when the trio were arrested in 2013. He has also been appointed director of security and ACSU for the WorldT20 in India next year.

Sreesanth, a member of the World Cup winning squads of World T20 in 2007 and 50-over World Cup in 2011, has been a handy all-rounder. He has played 27 Tests, besides 53 one-day Internationals and 10 T20Is.