IPL spot-fixing scandal: Meiyappan, Kundra get clean chit; Srinivasan may return as BCCI chief

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: The two-member committee probing the sixth edition of IPL has cleared Rajasthan Royals' co-owner Raj Kundra and N Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan of any involvement in spot fixing, a move which paves the way for Srinivasan to return to the post of BCCI president.

The committee comprising former judges T Jayaram Chouta and R Balasubramanian submitted its report to the Board of Control for Cricket in India on Sunday which will be forwarded to the IPL governing council. The report will be studied by Arun Jaitley who is expected to brief the IPL governing council.

"There's no evidence of any wrongdoing found by the judges against Raj Kundra, India Cements and Rajasthan Royals. The report will now be forwarded to the IPL governing council which will take a final decision when it meets on August 2 in New Delhi," Niranjan Shah, vice-president of BCCI, told reporters on Sunday.

A senior BCCI official, who did not wish to be named, said that as Srinivasan had offered to step aside on his own, it has been left to him to decide if he wants to get back as president of the board. "According to the probe report, there is no connection between Meiyappan's betting and CSK," the official added. In his case, the probe committee has found evidence of betting, but it doesn't amount to fixing.

Though Mumbai Police refused to react to the clean chit given to Meiyappan, sources in the police department said the court case against Meiyappan and Vindoo Dara Singh will continue. Both Meiyappan and Singh were arrested by the Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police and are out on bail, though they have been asked not to leave the country. The case will continue in Mumbai's Metropolitan court.

Srinivasan had to step aside as BCCI president after Meiyappan was arrested by the Mumbai Police on charges of gambling, and Jagmohan Dalmiya was appointed as the interim chief. "It will be discussed in the proper forum which is the IPL GC. The GC will examine the report and take a decision. The copy of the report will be made public in due course," said Dalmiya when asked if India Cements has been given a clean chit, while addressing a press conference in Kolkata on Sunday.

Dalmiya also said that the report of BCCI's anti-corruption unit chief Ravi Sawani was discussed but since Rajasthan Royals' player Ajit Chandila is still in police custody, the probe is yet to be completed. "We will wait for some time and then proceed accordingly. Sawani is on leave. Let him come back," he said. Earlier, the Indian cricket board had suspended Kundra from all cricketing activities. Meiyappan was arrested in May by the Mumbai Police for his alleged involvement in betting.