SC asks BCCI to probe Srinivasan's role

Names Srinivasan among 13 others in a confidential report

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to set up a panel to probe the role of its former president, N Srinivasan, besides 12 others, in the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scandal. A day after Srinivasan filed an affidavit seeking his reinstatement as BCCI chief, the apex court clarified he could not hold any board position, pending investigations.

The SC order came in connection with the report of a committee set up by BCCI under former judge Mukul Mudgal that had named Srinivasan and 12 IPL players for alleged corruption in the 2013 edition of the T20 cricket tournament. The names of the 12 players were not disclosed. The Court also agreed to hear BCCI’s plea seeking transcripts of audio recordings of Indian cricket team captain M S Dhoni’s interactions with the Mudgal committee.

ROUGH SPOT

A timeline of the IPL spot-fixing scandal
2013

• MAY: Three Rajasthan Royals’ cricketers — S Sreeshant, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan — arrested for alleged spot-fixing
• JUNE: Bihar Cricket Association Secretary Aditya Varma raises conflict-of-interest concerns over a two-member committee set up by BCCI to probe IPL spot-fixing allegations
• OCT: Supreme Court sets up a committee under ex-judge Mukul Mudgal to probe the controversy

2014

• FEB: The Mudgal panel gives two reports — one  confidential, yet unverified — in a sealed envelope
• MAR: Supreme Court orders N Srinivasan to step down as BCCI president; Sunil Gavaskar is made incharge of IPL and Shivlal Yadav incharge of BCCI matters not related to IPL
• APR: Srinivasan files affidavit asking Supreme Court to reinstate him as BCCI president; the apex court says Srinivasan is among 13 named in Mudgal committee’s confidential report, asks BCCI to probe the scandal

According to the court, the committee’s report, given in February in a sealed envelope, made 12 allegations of irregularities against Srinivasan.

In Tuesday’s affidavit, Srinivasan, who had stepped down as BCCI president following a Supreme Court order last month, sought to be reinstated claiming he had done no wrong.

On this, the two-member Supreme

Court Bench said: “We cannot close our eyes after having come to know about the allegations.”

Judge A K Patnaik said: “It seems that Mr Srinivasan has not taken the allegations seriously.” The judges asked BCCI to present corrective measures before next hearing in the case on April 22. “We are not considering probe by an SIT (special investigation team) because we don’t want the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) or the police or the media to throw mud on cricketers,” Patnaik observed. “The reputation of cricketers and great names are at stake. What will happen to the prestige of players representing the country and the Indian cricketers of the future? Cricket has to be clean but institutional autonomy has to be maintained.”

The IPL scandal had come to light in May last year, when three players of the Rajasthan franchise — S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan — were arrested by the Delhi Police over spot-fixing allegations.

Amid calls for a clean-up of IPL and the government’s inability to provide it security till the country’s general elections are over, the 2014 edition of the tournament kick-started in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

Reacting to the Supreme Court order, former BCCI treasurer Ajay Shirke said: “The onus is now on the board to get its act together and clean up the system. The onus has always been on the board. There were two committees to investigate the same matter — one set up by the board and another by the Supreme Court. And, the two came out with contrasting findings. This dealt a blow to the board’s credibility. This is a chance for BCCI to restore it.” Shirke also suggested it was time BCCI worked with government agencies to make sure the issue was fully resolved. “Instead of making bombastic statements in the press about removing cheerleaders, the focus should be on ensuring the matter is dealt with properly, once and for all, and the faith of so many cricket fans in the game remains intact.”

In his affidavit, Srinivasan had claimed he never interfered with disciplinary proceedings or criminal investigations against his son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan, who was an accused in the spot-fixing case. Responding to allegations made by the Bihar Cricket Association and adverse remarks made by the Court, Srinivasan had said he never made any offer to step aside as BCCI president. A proposal in this regard was made by BCCI on March 27.

Meanwhile, IPL Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sundar Raman was allowed to continue in his role after Sunil Gavaskar, the interim incharge of the IPL, said he was not in a position to take a decision on Sundar Raman, as he did not know the details of investigating agencies’ information on the COO.