MS Dhoni captains Chennai Super Kings - a team owned by India Cements of which N. Srinivasan is the MD.
© PTI
After almost 18 months of deliberations, the Supreme Court will give its final order on the 2013 Indian Premier League betting and match-fixing scandal on Thursday. All eyes will be on Board of Control for Cricket in India president-in-exile N. Srinivasan and his IPL team Chennai Super Kings. Srinivasan, who is seeking another term as Board president, is facing serious charges of conflict of interest as a cricket administrator. His son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan is in the eye of the storm for betting.
On December 17, when the Supreme Court broke for the winter break, the Special Bench comprising Justice TS Thakur and FM Kalifullah reserved its order on the corruption case after listening to final round of arguments. The case dates back to June 2013 when Aditya Verma, secretary of the Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB), raised charges of a conflict of interest in the BCCI's original two-member inquiry panel for the IPL corruption issue.
A Bombay High Court ruling later termed the probe panel "illegal". The BCCI and the CAB filed petitions in the Supreme Court against this order, with the CAB contending that the Bombay High Court could have suggested a fresh mechanism to look into the corruption allegations.
The Supreme Court then appointed a three-member committee, headed by former High Court judge Mukul Mudgal and comprising additional solicitor general L Nageswara Rao and Nilay Dutta to conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations of corruption against Meiyappan, India Cements, and Rajasthan Royals team owner Raj Kundra, as well as with the larger mandate of allegations around betting and spot-fixing in IPL matches and the involvement of players.
The panel indicted Meiyappan and Kundra for betting and sharing team information. Srinivasan and IPL COO Sundar Raman were also charged with "misdemeanor" that included cover-up reports of betting involving team owners and their acquaintances.
The probe finally narrowed down to 13 names, one of which was BCCI boss Srinivasan, who was suspended from running Board affairs. The Supreme Court has so far been critical of Srinivasan and the way he ran cricket in India with multiple interest in mind. During his regime, Srinivasan rode the controversial 6.2.4 clause in the BCCI constitution that enabled administrators to have commercials interests in IPL and Champions League T20.
Justice Kallifullah observed the Board did not have a process to deal with conflict of interest but, "The conflict of interest is very deep-rooted." Srinivasan, the judge said, "Had done so much for cricket, but ultimately your image is tarnished." The Supreme Court order could be a watershed in Indian cricket and the way the officials have run it thus far.
(With inputs from A. Vaidyanathan)
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