NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday lashed out at N Srinivasan for continuing as president of Board of Control for Cricket in India ( BCCI ). A two-judge bench said that it was "nauseating" that he headed the board when it was obvious that there cannot be a fair or transparent probe into betting and spot-fixing charges against his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan and others as long as he did so.With these pungent remarks, the BCCI boss has virtually been shown the door. The bench of Justices AK Patnaik and FMI Kalifulla said, "We are of the firm opinion that if the (BCCI) president does not step down, no fair investigation can take place. Why are you (Srinivasan) not stepping down? It is so nauseating."The "explosive" sealed cover report given by the court-appointed three-member panel headed by Justice Mukul Mudgal provided ammunition for the forenoon fireworks in the Supreme Court. The sealed cover report had talked about the alleged involvement of "six India capped players" in IPL irregularities.The bench intended to open the sealed cover report and read it out in open court. But BCCI's counsel CA Sundaram repeatedly pleaded with the court to desist from doing so while saying the media had already speculated and damaged several reputations.The bench acceded to the request but dismissed BCCI's promise to take corrective measures based on the recommendations in the Justice Mudgal panel report to rid cricket of its maladies.Referring to the sealed cover report, the bench said, "The allegations are so serious and are of such nature that BCCI cannot be entrusted with the investigation any more. We will not like to damage anyone. But we are of the firm opinion that if the (BCCI) president does not step down, no fair investigation can take place."The bench asked, "Why are you (Srinivasan) sticking to the president's post?" When Sundaram tried to make light of the betting allegations, which the panel found true against Meiyappan, by saying it was prevalent everywhere in India, from elections to everything else, the bench cut him short by saying, "You have not seen what is there in the sealed cover report."It added, "Read the sealed cover report. In our opinion, Srinivasan should step down if there has to be a fair investigation. If the allegations are to be verified properly, the man at the top must go. For an independent and impassionate probe, please read the report and tell us should the BCCI president stay in his post?"The bench allowed Sundaram to read the confidential report and asked him to get back to the court with BCCI's response by Thursday.The matter started from Bombay high court, which quashed the BCCI's decision to appoint two retired HC judges as a probe panel, which had given clean chits to both Srinivasan and Meiyappan. BCCI and Cricket Association of Bihar had challenged the HC order which resulted in the apex court appointing the three-member inquiry panel.Sundaram started his argument saying the matter had lost relevance as the BCCI had accepted the recommendations of the Justice Mudgal panel's report and promised that it would take corrective measures.But the bench asked, "What is the guarantee (that BCCI will take remedial measures)? Whether you will act on it is a big question. Why is this happening? It is because people who are in control (of cricket) are not keen to keep it clean. If you are in control, why have you not cleansed it of maladies?"Justice Mudgal panel, also comprising additional solicitor general L Nageshwar Rao and Nilay Dutt, had dropped a bombshell when its February 10 report said, "It appears that names of six prominent Indian capped players are available in tapes in connection with dealings with bookies while two of these prominent Indian capped players have also been named by none other than a former president of BCCI (IS Bindra). Another former president of BCCI, Shashank Manohar, also stated that all matches in IPL needed to be investigated."This sealed cover report was prepared by the panel after talking to many important stakeholders in cricket, who on the condition of anonymity talked about influential and powerful persons actively involved in various capacities in cricket being allegedly involved in malpractices.Though they did not want their names to be included in the report and run the risk of getting identified, they wanted their views to reach the court.