Sports
SC bars Srinivasan from contesting BCCI election
The Supreme Court Thursday barred sidelined BCCI president N. Srinivasan
from contesting the election to the Indian cricket board's governing
body presidency as long as he is involved in a "conflict of interest"
situation as an owner of IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
The
apex court said this while striking down an amendment to the Board of
Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) rules which permitted the office
bearers of the apex cricket body to have commercial interests in the
Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Champions League Twenty 20 - all
events organised by the BCCI.
The apex court bench, of Justice
T.S. Thakur and Justice Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla, held
Srinivasan's son-in-law and CSK "official" Gurunath Meiyappan, and IPL
franchise Rajasthan Royals' co-owner Raj Kundra guilty of betting and
said the punishment will not only be confined to them but also extend to
the franchises they represent.
The court said both of them were “team officialsâ€.
Holding
to the findings of the Mudgal Committee that Meiyappan's involvement in
betting was unassailable, the court said the allegation of betting
against Meiyappan and Kundra stand proved and as a consequence their
misconduct is not only punishable but the franchises they represent
should also be punished.
The apex court, however, cleared
Srinivasan of the allegation of a cover-up after reports on the betting
and match fixing surfaced.
The court set up a three-member
committee headed by former Chief Justice R.M. Lodha -- and comprising
Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice Ashok Bhan -- to decide, besides
other issues, the quantum of punishment to be given to Meiyappan and
Kundra and the IPL franchises CSK and Rajasthan Royal (RR).
The
court said that while deciding the quantum of punishment to Meiyappan,
Kundra and others, the three-member committee will issue notice to all.
The
committee will also look into the memorandum of association of the BCCI
and suggest changes in the rules on the eligibility and suitability of
people for contesting BCCI elections.
The court appointed the committee after declining to decide the issue itself or leaving it to the BCCI.
The apex court said Srinivasan will have to stay away from being an office bearer of the apex cricketing body in the country.
But
it made a distinction between commercial interest and professional
interest in respect of service rendered by prominent former cricketers
Sunil Gavaskar and the current Indian team's director Ravi Shastri as
commentators.
The court said that despite the BCCI not being a
State, still it was amenable to the jurisdiction of the High Court
Article 226 of the constitution, since it performed important public
functions.
The court also questioned the presence of Srinivasan
in the committee which decided on giving compensation to CSK and other
teams after the 2008 edition of the Champions League Twenty20 matches
which were abandoned in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008.
Addressing
the submissions that the compensation awarded to CSK was returned, the
court said such return of compensation does not matter in any way as
Srinivasan tried to come clean in the wake of a public outcry.
When contacted by IANS after the verdict, Srinivasan refused to comment and said: "I am not talking now."