File photo: N Srinivasan.
© PTI
After almost 18 months of deliberations, the Supreme Court will pass an order into the role of administrators with dual interest in cricket administration. The order will determine, among other things, whether ICC chairman N. Srinivasan can seek re-election as president of the BCCI. Srinivasan has already served a three-year term. (IPL spot-fixing saga - a timeline)
The court barred Srinivasan from carrying out his duties as president of the BCCI until it had delivered its final verdict, but did not stop him from heading the ICC. The case had led to the BCCI postponing its Annual General Meeting and elections twice. As per Board constitution, AGM must be completed by September 30. (SC slams Srinivasan for conflict of interest)
A panel, headed by former judge Mukul Mudgal, had in February 2014 presented a sealed envelope to the court containing names of 13 individuals who needed to be probed further. The panel's preliminary report had concluded that Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan -- who was the team principal of the Chennai Super Kings franchise -- could be guilty of illegal betting on IPL games.
Super Kings is owned by India Cements, whose managing director is Srinivasan. The Tamil Nadu business tycoon is facing serious allegations of conflict of interest.
The top developments (in ascending order) of the IPL betting and spot-fixing case:
1. The case dates back to June 2013. Aditya Verma, secretary of the Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB), filed a PIL in Bombay High Court raising charges of a conflict of interest in the Board's two-member inquiry panel probing corruption in IPL. The Bombay High Court declared the probe "illegal".
2. The BCCI and the CAB went to the Supreme Court against the Bombay High Court order. Verma's lawyers said the Bombay court could have suggested a fresh mechanism to investigate the charges of corruption.
3. In October 2013, the Supreme Court appointed a three-member committee, headed by former High Court judge Mukul Mudgal. The panel included additional solicitor general L Nageswara Rao and senior advocate Nilay Dutta. The Supreme Court wanted the panel to conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations of corruption against Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, India Cements, and Rajasthan Royals team owner Raj Kundra. The team was also asked to probe allegations of betting and spot-fixing in IPL and the involvement of players.
4. On February 10, 2014, the Mudgal Committee submitted two reports to the Supreme court. One submitted jointly by Mudgal and Rao and one by Dutta. They also filed a sealed envelope containing 13 names against whom there were "unsubstantiated" charges of corruption. One of the names was Srinivasan.
5. On March 28, Supreme Court suspends Srinivasan as BCCI president. In its interim order, the court says Srinivasan will be replaced by former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Shivlal Yadav. Gavaskar was given charge of IPL affairs while former Test spinner Yadav was entrusted with non-IPL issues.
6. On April 15, Srinivasan files an affidavit saying the Supreme Court should reinstate him as BCCI president. Srinivasan says he is innocent and allegations of conflict of interest were baseless. He also says that he never tried to hide the real identity of Meiyappan, indicted by Mudgal committee for betting and sharing team (Chennai Super Kings) information.
7. In May this year, following the panel's initial report, the Supreme Court gave the Mudgal committee greater powers to investigate the contents of the sealed envelope. Assisted by former senior IPS officer BB Mishra and Mumbai and Chennai police among others, the panel got greater investigative powers for search and seizure of relevant documents. It did not have the power to arrest. The panel was asked to submit a report by August-end.
8. The Mudgal panel seeks a two-month extension to complete its probe. The Supreme Court allows the extension.
9. BCCI lawyers wants Srinivasan to be reinstated since the Board AGM was due. The Bench refused saying BCCI AGM was "not its concern." The court also referred to an earlier order by Justice AK Patnaik saying Srinivasan "could not come back as BCCI president as long as the probe is on." BCCI puts off AGM to November 20, clearly indicating that it will wait for Supreme Court's ruling on 'suspended' Srinivasan.
10. The two-judge bench of Justice TS Thakur and Justice FM Kalifullah reserves its order after the end of hearings on December 17.
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