New Delhi, March 28 – The Supreme Court today removed N. Srinivasan as BCCI chief and asked Sunil Gavaskar to take charge as an interim president for the duration of IPL 7
The court did not bar Srinivasan-promoted Chennai Superkings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) from participating in the tournament.
Taking the cricket board out of incumbent Srinivasan’s hands, the court directed that the senior most vice president of the Board, Shivlal Yadav, will be looking after the affairs of BCCI.
A bench of Justices A.K. Patnaik and F.M. Ibrahim Kalifulla, which had on Thursday proposed barring CSK and RR in the tournament, however, refused to pass order in this regard allowing them to play the matches along with six other teams in the tournament beginning April 16 in Dubai.
The bench also said that Gavaskar will have to get out of the contract with BCCI for commentary in order to discharge the duty assigned by the court. It also directed BCCI to adequately compensate the veteran cricketer.
The order was given during hearing on the Mudgal Committee report that went into betting and spot-fixing allegations against those involved in CSK and RR during IPL 6.
In a packed-courtroom, the bench made it clear that no employee of India Cements, except players and commentators, will be allowed to get involved in any duties or activities of BCCI.
It also said that it is for Gavaskar to decide whether the present Chief Executive Officer of IPL, Sundar Raman, to continue on his post or to be replaced after allegations were levelled against him in the court of protecting Srinivasan.
In the meantime, BCCI pleaded with the court to allow Srinivasan to hold the post of International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman from July. But the bench refused to pass any order regarding this.
The BCCI also vehemently rejected the allegations levelled against Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni by counsel Harish Salve, who accused him of “covering up” Gurunath Meiyappan.
“He has been wrongly vilified by media after false allegations were leveled against him in the court yesterday. He never made a statement that Meiyappan was just a cricket enthusiast as submitted by senior counsel Harish Salve,” senior advocate C.A. Sundaram, appearing for BCCI, told the bench. “The statement made yesterday was false,” he further said.
-India Today
