As interim measure until its final order on IPL scandal

The Supreme Court on Thursday suggested the appointment of the former India cricket captain, Sunil Gavaskar, as the interim president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to replace N. Srinivasan until its final order on the Indian Premier League spot-fixing and betting scandal.

A Bench of Justices A.K. Patnaik and Ibrahim Kalifulla gave this proposal after senior counsel T.R Andhyarujina, appearing for Mr. Srinivasan, informed the court that Mr. Srinivasan would not carry out his functions as president of the BCCI till the proposed inquiry was completed.

The Bench, after hearing the argument of senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for the Cricket Association of Bihar, that tainted players be barred from playing in the IPL until their names are cleared, proposed barring Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) from playing the forthcoming seventh season of the IPL. It further said any person associated with Indian Cements, the owner of CSK franchise, should not be involved with the BCCI or the IPL. Senior counsel Aryama Sundaram, appearing for the BCCI, said if the two teams were not allowed to participate in the IPL, the entire format would have to be restructured. The Bench then told the counsel that he could respond to its proposals by Friday when it would pass an interim order.

Earlier, Mr. Salve, after going through the Justice Mukul Mudgal report on betting and spot fixing, argued that CSK should be suspended in the light of the allegations against Mr. Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, who was said to be the team principal at the time of the occurrence of alleged spot-fixing and betting deals.

He pointed out that one of the co-owners of Rajasthan Royals, Mr. Raj Kundra, has been accused of indulging in betting and suspended from the franchise.

Mr. Salve referred to the deposition made by Indian skipper and captain of CSK, M.S. Dhoni before the Justice Mudgal panel and said he was guilty of corrupt conduct as he gave a false statement that Gurunath Meiyappan was only a cricket enthusiast.

The counsel alleged that Mr. Srinivasan was also guilty of corruption for the cover-up operation before the Mudgal panel, which clearly held that he had conflict of interest as he was wearing two hats, one as BCCI president and the other as the president of the CSK franchise, owned by Indian Cements.

Our Visakhapatnam correspondent adds:

A huge honour: Gavaskar

Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar on Thursday said he was pleased that the Supreme Court considered him suitable for taking the helm of the Board of Control for Cricket in India on an interim basis. “That the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, thought of me is a huge honour,” he said.

Mr. Gavaskar felt his purview might be brief. “There is no order. It’s only an observation at the moment, no finality to it yet.”