The president of the Indian cricket board, N Srinivasan, has decided to stay away from the chair till the time the ACSU and the police probe into the betting and spot-fixing scandal is complete. In his place, former BCCI and ICC chief Jagmohan Dalmiya has taken temporary control.
The BCCI secretary has resigned, the treasurer is contemplating whether to stay away or return and the Chief Operating Officer of India's Twenty20 league, Sundar Raman, who attended the ICC's chief executive committee meeting in 2011, is presently busy helping the probe.
Reports suggest that the BCCI has already made way for Srinivasan, who is still the president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) and also one of the directors of the sport's world governing body, to attend the ICC meet.
Technically, Srinivasan can attend the meeting despite his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan - released on bail by the Mumbai crime branch after getting arrested on charges of betting and being in contact with illegal bookmakers - being probed by various departments.
The ICC ethics code, which primarily deals with corruption, says a director shall be in breach of this code if his immediate family member - spouse, sibling or children - has a controlling or substantial interest in a betting business or is employed by someone with a similar interest.
Gurunath, by virtue of being Srinivasan's son-in-law, is not his immediate family member (a relationship that does not figure in the ICC clause) and his interests in the betting business are still under probe. That gives Srinivasan complete rights to attend the conference in London because he is not in direct violation of the code.
The BCCI can always appoint someone to attend the meeting in case an interim president or its appointed director in the ICC cannot be there. A source said that only if one of the other directors on the ICC board raises the issue of conflict of interest — given the nature of the controversy involving Srinivasan's son-in-law and his company India Cements' ownership of the Chennai Super Kings franchise — can the matter be brought up for discussion.
However, the managing director of India Cements has always preferred to have a vice-like grip over administration and it is unlikely he'll agree to be cowed down by any opposition whatsoever. Is there another controversy in the making here?
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