Zee Media BureauNew Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday, reserved the order on constituting probe panel to investigate allegations against N Srinivasan and 12 others allegedly involved in the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing.
The Mudgal panel expressed its willingness to probe against Srinivasan in front of the Apex Court on Tuesday. The BCCI called Mudgal panel`s investigation erroneous. The BCCI has demanded reinstatement of N Srinivasan as its president. BCCI said if the SC favours an external panel then N Srinivasan must be brought back as its president. BCCI requested the Supreme Court to let a fresh probe panel look into the allegations against Srinivasan and other cricketers.
Resuming hearing in the petition filed by Bihar Cricket Association chief Aditya Verma, the court heard both sides on Tuesday but reserved its order on the formation of the panel even as BCCI asked for a fresh probe and reinstatement of ousted N Srinivasan as the board`s president. Justice Mudgal, meanwhile, asked for assistance from retired special director of CBI, ML sharma, on the panel, along with police officials from Delhi and Mumbai. He also demanded at least four months for the new panel to file its report.
Earlier, On April 22, the Supreme Court rejected BCCI`s proposed three-man panel comprising CBI director RK Raghavan, former Calcutta High Court chief Justice JN Patel and former India captain Ravi Shastri after opposition from Aditya Verma, petitioner and Bihar Cricket Association chief. The top court then asked Justice Mudgal if he can continue his probe with the help of other investigators.
Justice Mudgal then gave his consent. "We [the panel] have given our consent; it is entirely for the Supreme Court to decide...I will wait for the Supreme Court`s order," he said. The case was then adjourned to April 29. He is expected to propose the members on his panel to the SC on Tuesday.
The SC resumed hearing the case and then was adjourned until 2 p.m., leaving instructions for the Mudgal committee to respond if it can continue investigations after submitting their earlier report.
The Cricket Board had decided to propose to the apex court a fresh three-member panel comprising RK Raghavan, former director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Justice (retd.) JN Patel, former chief justice of the Calcutta High Court, and Ravi Shastri, former India skipper and renown commentator.
Earlier, the apex court, while turning down Narayanaswami Srinivasan`s plea to return to the helm of the Board`s affairs as its elected chief, has ruled that he cannot be given back the BCCI`s reins till he comes out clean in a probe conducted against him and 12 others, including India-capped cricketers, whose names have been mentioned by Justice Mudgal Committee report in the IPL corruption scandal. The directive also asked the board to reply on April 22 with definite corrective measures on how to assure a fair probe in the IPL scam.
A bench of justices A K Patnaik and F M Ibrahim Kalifulla, however, had expressed reservations over a SIT or CBI probe, saying that institutional autonomy of the Board has to be maintained and a committee constituted by the BCCI to look into the issue would be preferred.
"Having come to know the nature of allegations, we cannot close our eyes," the bench said, adding that it is concerned about the game of cricket in the country and not about individuals.
Referring to a sealed envelope report of Justice Mudgal committee, the bench said,
"It (report) said all these allegations were brought to his (Srinivasan) notice but he did not take any action. That means he was aware about the allegations and did not take it seriously."
Interestingly, the Supreme Court refused to bar Srinivasan from attending International Cricket Council (ICC) meetings. The BCCI’s president-in-exile has been nominated as the next ICC chairman and set to assume the role in July.
First Published: Tuesday, April 29, 2014, 17:14
