JOIN USThere were fears that the outcome of the inquiry instituted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) into the IPL T-20 spot fixing scandal was foretold in the beginning, and they have come true with the clean chit given by the committee to the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals managements.
The committee of two retired judges has claimed that there is no evidence of wrongdoing against India Cements, the owner of CSK and whose managing director N Srinivasan is the president of the BCCI, and Raj Kundra, co-owner of Rajasthan Royals. Srinivasan’s son-in-law Meiyappan had been arrested for betting and Kundra had been suspended on charges of gambling. Though Meiyappan was granted bail and Kundra retracted his statement about his involvement in betting, the suspicions aroused by their actions persisted.
These have not been cleared by the shoddy inquiry and the hasty conclusion it has arrived at. The inquiry was an internal affair of the BCCI. It had no legal sanctity, as ruled by the Bombay high court now, which held that the inquiry was “illegal and unconstitutional.”
A public body like the BCCI needed a convincing independent investigation if the aim was to restore its credibility which has been shattered by various charges. It is still not known what investigation the committee undertook. The cases registered by the police are still being pursued. The Mumbai police, which filed charges against Meiyappan, has said that the committee did not get back to it for any information after an initial request. The Delhi police, in its charge sheet, filed on Tuesday, has named some of the Rajasthan Royals players among the accused. When the principal actors in the scandal have not been cleared by the police or the courts how could an internal exercise absolve them of all charges?
BCCI president N Srinivasan stepped aside from his post after the inquiry panel was set up. But Meiyappan is still facing charges and will have to face trial. The charge of conflict of interest will not go away with Srinivasan underplaying Meiyappan’s place in the team’s management and getting a certificate of no value. It is unfortunate that an enquiry into spot fixing charges itself became a fixed exercise. It has shown that the BCCI is unable to correct itself, and it will hurt the future of the game of cricket in the country. A new inquiry, ordered by the court, will hopefully clear the issues.