Sudhir Nanavati, who is investigating the slap that shook the IPL, has said that Harbhajan Singh’s action seemed “premeditated” and “unprovoked” from the footage that was shown to him in the BCCI office in Mumbai on Tuesday.

“It looks premeditated,” Nanavati told The Indian Express after returning to Ahmedabad on Wednesday evening. “The footage doesn’t show anything to suggest that Harbhajan’s act was provoked. He just slapped Sreesanth once and went away.”

But, the lawyer added: “I will have to go through all the documents and record everyone’s statements before arriving at any conclusion. It will be immature for me to say anything now. My main task now is to establish whether Sreesanth provoked him.”

Nanavati had seen the footage with IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah and joint secretary MP Pandove. He has not been given a copy of the recording.

Nanavati stressed that Harbhajan had committed a serious offence and may receive a harsh punishment. “His offence is very serious. The laws are very strict. His penalty may vary from 10 matches to a life ban. But it’s not within my purview to decide the nature of punishment. My job is to find the truth, and whether Harbhajan’s act was premeditated or spontaneous.” He added that if a player apologises or repents his action, there is a scope for the punishment to be relaxed somewhat.

His statements came on a day when Harbhajan, desperate to get a waiver, pleaded with the BCCI in a letter to give him “one final chance”.

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