The Supreme Court has appointed a three-member committee to investigate the allegations of spot-fixing and betting in the Indian Premier League (IPL), while has lifted restraints that were earlier put on N. Srinivasan from taking charge as the elected chief of the Indian cricket board.
The Supreme Court has appointed a three-member committee to investigate the allegations of spot-fixing and betting in the Indian Premier League (IPL), while has lifted restraints that were earlier put on N. Srinivasan from taking charge as the elected chief of the Indian cricket board.
The apex court said that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and its president Srinivasan would completely keep off the probe panel, headed by former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal, but will extend all the facilities required by the investigators.
The other two members of the probe panel, which has been asked to submit its report in four months, are senior counsel and Additional Solicitor General L. Nageshwar Rao and senior advocate Nilay Dutta, also an official of Assam Cricket Association (ACA).
The court order appointing the probe committee came after the petitioner Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) and the respondent BCCI conveyed their consent to the court’s earlier suggestion to appoint an independent panel to probe the allegations of spot-fixing and betting during the IPL.
BCCI counsel C.A. Sundaraman said that the board and Srinivasan won’t interfere in the working of the probe panel. “The Supreme Court has said that Srinivasan can take charge of the BCCI, and it also set up an independent probe panel into the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal. This panel has to submit its report in four months. Srinivasan’s lawyers and BCCI counsel told the court that the panel will work independently and he won’t interfere in its working,” Sundaram said.
Mudgal acknowledge the decision and said “It is an honour for me to head the panel. I have two eminent members in the panel and will chart out the course of action after talking to them. I think this panel is fair to all parties concerned.”
The Supreme Court earlier in an order restrained Srinivasan from taking charge of the apex cricketing body. Srinivasan was elected president unopposed for a third year at the BCCI Annual General Meeting in Chennai, Sep 29. The CAB, which is not recognized by the BCCI, filed a petition in the Supreme Court demanding Srinivasan be barred from contesting the BCCI presidential election.
The petition was filed on the ground that Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan is being probed by Mumbai police for placing bets in the IPL matches. Meiyappan, along with Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf and Bollywood actor Vindoo Dara Singh, has been named in the charge sheet filed by the Mumbai police.
With inputs from IANS
