Sundar Raman gets Lodha panel's clean chit

The Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee today gave a clean chit to former IPL COO Sundar Raman in connection with the 2013 spot-fixing and betting scandal, citing lack of evidence against him.

"There was not enough evidence against Sundar Raman and no knowledge of him knowing Vindoo (Dara Singh)," said Justice R M Lodha while reading out parts of the report he submitted to the Supreme Court today.

When contacted, Raman chose not to comment on Lodha panel's recommendations.
"I have not yet the read report so I would not want to comment on it. I have heard that I have been given a clean chit and I appreciate it but there is nothing more I want to add," Raman, who resigned from his post in November, told PTI.

Earlier, the Justice Mukul Mudgal-led panel, which was formed to investigate the IPL spot-fixing scandal, had named Raman as Individual 12 in its report, which said he "knew a contact of a bookie and had contacted him eight times in one season".

His alleged involvement in the spot-fixing scandal had BCCI president Shashank Manohar saying that "Raman should have gone immediately after the Mudgal Committee report found him prima facie guilty of wrongdoings".

"He ought to have stepped down immediately at that time. Now, to restore the faith of people in IPL and the game, Raman needs to go," Manohar had said in July.