The Supreme Court of India(SCI)on Wednesday April 16,2014 refused to allow N. Srinivasan to
function as Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president so
long as the probe into IPL betting and spot-fixing allegations is going
on.
A Bench of Justices A.K. Patnaik and Ibrahim Kalifulla said there were
12 allegations against Mr. Srinivasan, who has been named along with 12
prominent cricketers, in the report of Justice Mudgal Committee
submitted to the apex court in a sealed cover.
"It [report] said all these allegations were brought to his [Mr.
Srinivasan's] notice but he did not take any action. That means he was
aware of the allegations and did not take them seriously. Mr.
Srinivasan's name was the 13th and he had 12 allegations against him. He
can't become BCCI president as long as the probe is on,” Justice
Patnaik told senior counsel Aryama Sundaram, appearing for the BCCI.
Mr. Sundaram had urged the court to allow Mr. Srinivasan to discharge
his functions as the BCCI president as there was nothing in the probe
panel's report against him.
The Bench said it was not inclined to order a CBI or an SIT probe as it
would sully the image of cricketers and undermine the autonomy of the
cricket board.
"Having come to know the nature of allegations, we cannot close our
eyes. We are not considering an SIT probe because we don't want the CBI
or the police or the media to throw mud on cricketers. Reputations of
cricketers and great names are at stake. What happens to the reputation
of the players who are representing the country and Indian cricketers of
the future? Cricket has to be clean, but institutional autonomy has to
be maintained," Justice Patnaik said.
Taking note of a communication from Sunil Gavaskar, the interim
president for IPL-7, asking the court to take a decision on whether IPL
Chief Operating Officer Sundar Raman should continue or not, the Bench
said in the interest of the game it was allowing Mr. Raman to continue
to function as COO of IPL-7, which began on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi.
The Bench asked the BCCI and Mr. Srinivasan to respond by April 22 on
how the probe should be conducted into the allegations. It also agreed
to hear the BCCI’s plea seeking tapes of audio recording of interactions
of the Mudgal committee members with Indian skipper M.S. Dhoni and Mr.
Srinivasan. It asked the committee to appoint an amicus to assist the
court and to make his submissions on the request of the BCCI.
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