SC reserves order on Swamy's plea against ban on CSK

The Lodha panel had banned CSK, Rajasthan Royals after holding that its top officials were found involved in betting.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its order on a plea filed by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Subramanian Swamy challenging the two-year ban imposed on Indian Premier League franchise Chennai Super Kings.

A bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur said that it will pronounce an order in the matter.

Swamy, in his plea, has alleged that there were no allegations against either N Srinivasan or against any members of the CSK and hence the ban imposed by the Justice RM Lodha panel was "illegal, arbitrary and unreasonable".

The Lodha panel had banned CSK and Rajasthan Royals after holding that its top officials like Raj Kundra and Gurunath Meiyappan were found involved in betting.

Swamy had moved the apex court on August 26, seeking an urgent hearing on his application challenging the two-year ban imposed on the IPL franchise over the 2013 betting scam.

The Madras High Court on January 20 had dismissed Swamy's PIL challenging the suspension of CSK and Rajasthan Royals, saying it was not maintainable.

Star-studded CSK, then led by MS Dhoni, and Rajasthan Royals were on July 14, 2015 suspended for two years from the IPL in a clean-up exercise following the 2013 betting scam involving their top officials Meiyappan and Raj Kundra.

Meiyappan, son-in-law of the then BCCI chief N Srinivasan and a former team principal of CSK, and Kundra, co-owner of Jaipur IPL that runs Rajasthan Royals (RR), were suspended for life from any match conducted by BCCI.

The punishment was handed down by a three-member panel headed by former CJI RM Lodha which was asked by the Supreme Court to decide the quantum of punishment after finding them guilty of betting.

The Madras High Cout had also dismissed a similar petition by the owner of CSK challenging Justice Lodha panel's order.