IPL spot-fixing: SC names N. Srinivasan, Raj Kundra, Gurunath Meiyappan
BCCI told the Supreme Court it would postpone its annual general meeting by four weeks
New Delhi: The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday suggested that N. Srinivasan, the sidelined president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and three others may have committed “misdemeanours", based on the report of a panel that probed allegations of betting and spot-fixing in last year’s Indian Premier League (IPL).
The other three named by the apex court were Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, IPL chief executive officer (CEO) Sundar Raman and Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra.
“We have seen the report and it did suggest some misdemeanour on part of certain individuals," said the two-judge bench, which set the next hearing on the case for 24 November.
“Certain findings recorded by the committee are understood to have indicted some individuals whose conduct has been investigated."
The court held back the names of players who figure in the report submitted by the Mudgal committee earlier this month.
It directed the media not to disclose the names of three players who were named inadvertently in the court as being among the people who found a mention in the report.
The apex court directed that a redacted copy of the report “indicting some individuals in regard to whose conduct investigation has been conducted" be provided to Srinivasan, who is also chairman of the International Cricket Council, Meiyappan, Raman and Kundra. The four were asked to submit objections within four days.
The court clarified that while sections of the report pertaining solely to the players would be redacted completely, portions containing interactions between the players and the persons named on Friday will be disclosed, albeit without mentioning the name of the players concerned. Srinivasan is the vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements Ltd, which owns the Chennai Super Kings IPL franchise, in which Meiyappan, according to investigators, played the role of a team principal.
The probe panel, headed by former high court judge Mukul Mudgal, found Meiyappan guilty of being in touch with illegal bookmakers in its preliminary investigations.
In a related development, BCCI told the apex court on Friday that it would postpone its annual general meeting (AGM), set for 20 November, by four weeks. The board was to elect its office-bearers at the AGM.
Srinivasan was up for re-election. He was asked to step aside as BCCI president during the investigation into the alleged betting and spot-fixing in the 2013 IPL.
“There’s no question of Srinivasan contesting unless the issue is resolved," the court said.
The betting and spot-fixing controversy erupted after a clutch of cricketers, including former test pace bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, were arrested for allegedly giving away a minimum number of runs in exchange for money from bookies.
According to IPL rules, a team can be suspended if its officials bring the tournament into disrepute.
Reached by Mint on the phone, Srinivasan said, “How can I comment? The matter is sub judice."
Niranjan Shah, a member of BCCI’s finance committee, said, “Let us get the report first, and then we will say what we have to."
An official of India Cements refused to comment. Calls to Raman and Rajasthan Royals CEO Raghu Iyer weren’t answered.
IPL, a lucrative sporting property worth in excess of ₹ 1,000 crore per season with each franchisee spending ₹ 200 crore yearly, has been marred by controversy since its inception seven years ago.
“There are a few bad apples, but that’s the case for world sport everywhere," said a former franchise executive involved in IPL who declined to be named. “So I don’t think either the BCCI or the IPL will go away or die. Some people might leave, the power centre may shift."
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