Supreme Court refuses to allow N Srinivasan to take over board functioning, postpones BCCI meet

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered postponement of the annual general meeting of the cricket board to elect new office bearers to January 31, despite its sidelined chief N Srinivasan assuring that if he is elected as president, he will keep off IPL administrative affairs until he is cleared of conflict-ofinterest allegations.

Srinivasan is the managing director of India Cements, which owns the Chennai Super Kings IPL franchise. His son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan has been indicted by the court-appointed Mudgal committee on charges of betting.

Despite the Mudgal committee clearing Srinivasan personally on charges of betting and match-fixing, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices TS Thakur and FMI Kalifullah has refused to permit him take over the board's functioning. It has instead asked him to explain the conflict of interest as he was the chief of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and at the same, owner of a team.

The bench on Wednesday postponed the AGM from the earlier scheduled December 17 despite Srinivasan's lawyer Kapil Sibal making the assurance of him staying out of IPL affairs. The court had earlier rapped him for attending the BCCI working committee meetings representing the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association while sitting it out as BCCI chief. Srinivasan is one of the key contenders for the top post of the cash-rich board.

The bench is now debating the punishments which should follow the indictment of some individuals and franchisees by the Mudgal probe report, and who should decide its contours. On Tuesday, the court suggested that the Mudgal panel or any other committee, and not a BCCI in-house panel, should decide on the punishment. The BCCI said any suggestions could only be recommendatory in nature, pointing out that it was a private body and had its own set of rules. Justice Thakur contested this, pointing out that the BCCI was using the national colors and identifying the team as "Team India" in its matches abroad.

"We are looking at a situation when you allow a thief to enter and then act," the judge said. "Don't you think you should first stop him?" Rajasthan Royals lawyer Ashok Desai said Raj Kundra and his wife Shilpa Shetty weren't the owners of the team as widely believed.