The Supreme Court on Monday observed that there was something “seriously wrong” with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and asked its re-elected president N Srinivasan not to take charge until the court took a decision on the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing probe.
A bench of Justices A K Patnaik and J S Khehar asked the Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) to respond to the BCCI’s suggestion of forming a fresh probe panel and posted the matter for further hearing on October 7.
The CAB sought to restrain Srinivasan from assuming office in the wake of the alleged involvement of his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan in the IPL spot-fixing case.
Srinivasan secured a year’s extension on his re-election in the annual general meeting held in Chennai on Sunday.
Senior advocate C A Sundaram, representing the BCCI, urged the court to allow Srinivasan to discharge his official duties as the president in accordance with the constitution of the board. He submitted that the BCCI would constitute a fresh probe panel to investigate allegations of corruption in IPL 2013.
Senior advocates and BCCI members Arun Jaitley and Niloy Dutta have been proposed as heads of the fresh panel, and Srinivasan would keep himself completely out of IPL probe-related issues, he said.
Hearing on Oct 7
“Don't be in a hurry. We will take up the case on October 7 and decide what should happen. The other side (Bihar) also agrees that the BCCI chief has to discharge his duties. BCCI must continue its work, and so its president has to function.
At the same time, his function should not affect the fairness of the probe. But why has BCCI lost its credibility? The only thing to be seen is how Srinivasan, being the president, will affect the IPL probe,” said the bench.