The Supreme Court has observed on Thursday that Chennai Super Kings should be “terminated without further enquiry” from the Indian Premier League because one of its officials Gurunath Meiyappan has been indicted for betting by an inquiry committee. Meiyappan is the son-in-law of suspended BCCI president N. Srinivasan.
Srinivasan is himself facing questions on conflict of interest. The court wanted to know exact share holding pattern of India Cements, the owners of CSK. Srinivasan is the Managing Director of India Cements.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court made a telling observation saying: “Your (Srinivasan) duty as a president is to keep the show (IPL) running and to keep it clean. What is your duty as a team owner? To win the tournament.”
During hearing on Thursday, the special Supreme Court Bench wanted to know who was controlling two-time IPL champions CSK. The judges said: “Srinivasan’s position as BCCI president might have come in way of him conducting a fair tournament.”
According to IPL rules, if a team official is found indulging in corrupt activities like betting and match-fixing, the franchise can be terminated. A probe panel headed by former judge Mukul Mudgal has said in its report that Meiyappan was a team owner and indulged in betting and sharing team information.
The probe report has charged Srinivasan with “covering up” Meiyappan’s role. The judges said: “We don’t expect people to stand up and confess. There could be corollaries and consequences arising from the inferences contained in the report. That you cannot escape.” On Tuesday, the judges event went to the extent ofterming Meiyappan’s leaking team information to “insider trading.”
Srinivasan is seeking a clean chit from the Supreme Court to contest the BCCI elections and win another term as president.
