Apex court mulls over making Mudgal report public

SC raises questions over return of ousted BCCI president

The Supreme Court on Monday wondered if the Mudgal panel report which probed into allegations of spot-fixing and betting during the IPL-6 should be made public in view of its potential to damage reputation of the persons concerned.

A bench of justices T S Thakur and F M I Kalifullah also raised questionmark on whether ousted BCCI president N Srinivasan could be allowed to return to the cricket board if his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan is found guilty by the panel.
“What do you say if there is an element of cover-up and if somebody’s relative is found involved,”the bench asked.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Srinivasan said that charges against an individual (son-in-law) could not be ground to deny him from fighting elections for the post of BCCI president.

With regard to the court’s query on extent of disclosure of the contents of the report, he said, “The panel’s findings are inchoate and should not be made public.”
The bench also said revealing the contents of the report could harm the public image of the game, besides sullying the image of the accused as they have not been provided a chance of hearing by the panel.

The panel headed by former Punjab and Haryana HC Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal had submitted its final report on November 3.

Resuming its hearing, the bench said they have yet not gone through the report.
During the hearing, the bench, however, asked the counsel of BCCI, ousted president of cricket board N Srinivasan and Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) about their stand on the report being made public.

“We have to see the nature of allegations in the report...will it be illegal, improper and casting aspersion on reputation of the persons whose figured in the report?  Does it not affect the game,” the bench said.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the CAB, submitted that doubts about people had to be dispelled. “In the interest of the sport, the report should be made public,” he said. The bench posted the matter for further hearing on Friday.