New Delhi, November 24
The Supreme Court today rejected N Srinivasan’s claim that “there is nothing against” him in the findings of the probe panel that had gone into allegations of betting and spot fixing in T20 cricket matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

"You are presuming” that the panel had given a clean chit, a bench comprising Justices TS Thakur and FMI Kalifulla told senior advocate Kapil Sibal. It made the remark when Sibal pleaded with the court to consider letting Srinivasan contest the election for the post of president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as the panel had cleared him of all the charges.

“Please don’t go only by the report that Srinivasan is not involved in betting, match fixing or scuttling the investigation. It is all right that these findings are there. But you are the owner (of Chennai Super Kings) and your official (son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan) is betting. Will it not affect your status as BCCI president,” the bench asked Sibal.

The bench also raised questions on the conflict of interest arising from Srinivasan’s dual role as the BCCI chief and the CSK owner. While his responsibility as the BCCI chief was to ensure that the IPL teams had a level-playing field and the matches were free from mischief, his role as a team owner was different. “Is it not conflict of interest,” it asked. At this, both the BCCI and Srinivasan sought to draw a clear distinction between the BCCI and the IPL by contending that they were two different entities managed by separate managing committees. They also said this question had been settled by Bombay High Court.

Unconvinced, the bench said since IPL was a by-product of the BCCI "both are mutual benefit societies and you cannot distinguish between the two." BCCI’s senior counsel Aryaman Sundaram pleaded with the bench to leave it to the board the job of taking action on the findings of the SC-appointed panel headed by retired Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal.

While criminal cases were being pursued by police, the board would take disciplinary and punitive action against the BCCI and IPL officials and players indicted by the panel, he said.

Virtually rejecting this plea, the bench said the board could not be expected to act against its own officials. At this, Sundaram said the BCCI had high reputation and international recognition. The bench, however, noted that the BCCI derived its reputation and recognition when “one lakh people present in the stadium applaud the game. But who will enter the stadium if the spectator confidence is shattered by betting and fixing?” Observing that the game was a religion in the country, the bench said it should be played in its purest form. If there was any suspicion on this score, the “benefit of doubt should go to the game, rather than any individual,” it said. The bench was hearing arguments on the follow-up action required on the panel’s findings.