The Supreme Court on Thursday brought the hammer down on the Indian Premier League spot-fixing case, ruling Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra guilty of betting on IPL matches but sparing N Srinivasan on allegations of cover-up but not on the issue of conflict of interest.
The apex court read out a 130-page verdict based on the final probe report submitted by the Justice Mukul Mudgal committee, wherein it stated that Meiyappan, son-in-law of Srinivasan, was indeed an official of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and did place bets on matches.
“Decision to award compensation to India Cements casts a shadow of bias on Srinivasan. The argument that Srinivasan owns a minuscule share of India Cements is misleading because his family owns much more,” the court said, which effectively means the amendments made to rule Rule 6.2.4 of the BCCI Constitution has been struck down.
As a consequence, Srinivasan will not be allowed to contest the BCCI presidential elections that, SC said, should be held within the next six weeks. However, if he distances himself from the CSK and disowns the franchise, then he will be eligible to contest the elections. So Srinivasan will have to choose between BCCI and CSK.
Another important part of the verdict was that SC has appointed a three-member committee led by former Chief Justice RS Lodha to decide on the quantum of punishment for Meiyappan and Kundra and decide on the fate of franchises they are associated with (CSK and RR).
“We will not be dealing with the fate of franchises and will refer the subject to a three-member committee,” SC said.
The court has reported asked the new panel to propose sweeping reforms to ensure the game remains clean and people’s faith is restored. “BCCI did not adhere to prescribed procedures while conducting probe in IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal,” the court added.
But SC clarified that the conflict of interest issue does not apply to former players employed by IPL franchises as mentors or coaches. “Professional engagement is different from commercial interest,” SC said on the matter.
The court also observed that allegations against IPL COO Sundar Raman should be probed further.
Here are the top five points coming out of the IPL verdict:
1. Meiyappan, Kundra found guilty of betting.
2. Srinivasan clared on cover-up allegations, but guilty of conflict of interest.
3. Srinivasan can’t stand for BCCI elections until he disowns CSK.
4. BCCI told to hold elections in the next 6 weeks.
5. SC appoints three-member panel led to decide on the quantum of punishment for Meiyappan, Kundra, CSK and RR.