M A I N   N E W S

SC panel indicts BCCI chief’s son-in-law over IPL betting
Wants special probe team to deal with terror, hawala elements
Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, February 10
A Supreme Court panel has suggested the setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the CBI or the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and enactment of a national law to deal with match fixing in cricket, particularly IPL, by terrorists and hawala operators and the threat to the national security arising from it.

The SIT should consist of officials from specialised agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and Income Tax, the three-member panel headed by former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal, said in a three-volume report submitted to the SC today.

The report indicted BCCI chief N Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan over betting in IPL cricket matches and recommended legalisation of this practice to minimise the role of the underworld and black money in the game.

The new law “must provide for stringent, deterrent punishments” on the lines of the dreaded Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and have “restrictive bail provisions” as in the NDPS Act, it said.

The BCCI must adopt a “zero tolerance” approach towards betting, fixing and other forms of corruption that had “crept deep into the game of cricket, more particularly, the IPL, and are seeping into the game at an alarming rate. If unchecked, the same would be damaging for the game of cricket and defeat public confidence,” it said.

The panel was of the “opinion that franchisee owner (India Cements, a company owned by Srinivasan) of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), is responsible for failing to ensure Meiyappan’s compliance ” with the anti-corruption code of the cricket board (BCCI) and the operation rules and regulations of the IPL.

A Bench comprising Justices AK Patnaik and FMI Kalifulla, which perused the report, clarified that the IPL auctions for this year could go on, but these would not be prejudicial to any order it would pass on the issue later.

“Meiyappan was indulging in betting through Vindoo Dara Singh who was in direct touch with the bookies and punters such as Vikram Aggarwal,” the panel said.

Additional Solicitor General L Nageswara Rao and Assam Cricket Association member Nilay Dutta were the members of the panel, set up by the SC on a petition filed by the Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) on the issue of match and spot fixing in IPL. The allegations of betting by Rajasthan Royal part-owners Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty “clearly required further and serious investigation,” the committee said.

Slating the next hearing for March 7, the Bench sought the responses of CAB, BCCI, India Cements and Rajasthan Royal to the panel’s recommendations.

The panel said “several persons” had raised the issue of conflict of interest arising from Srinivasan heading BCCI as its president and Indian Cements as its CEO. “It is evident that the questions raised before us about the conflict of interest are serious and may have large scale ramifications on the functioning of cricket,” it said.

Investigating agencies had maintained that “legalising sports betting would reduce the element of black money and the influence of the underworld,” the panel said in its recommendations.

“The IPL is a good format and has benefitted a number of players. Therefore there is a need to protect it,” but it should be a stand-alone commercial entity with a governing body comprising representatives from the franchises, BCCI, broadcasters and in dependent professional directors, it said.

Further, players should not be allowed to own any stake or interest in player agencies or companies involved with cricket, except for endorsements and sponsorship.

Tough measures needed

• The SIT should consist of officials from specialised agencies such as the ED, DRI and Income Tax, said the panel
• The new law “must provide for stringent, deterrent punishments” on the lines of the dreaded Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act and have “restrictive bail provisions” as in the NDPS Act, it said
• The BCCI must adopt a zero tolerance approach towards betting, fixing and other forms of corruption that had crept into cricket, it said.

Legalise betting, says committee

Investigating agencies had maintained that “legalising sports betting would reduce the element of black money and the influence of the underworld,” the panel said in its recommendations.

RR co-owners in a spot