The decision of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to suspend Chennai Super Kings from the Indian Premier league (IPl) on charges of spot fixing and betting took a new turn on Friday with the Madras High Court issuing a notice to the cricket's governing body on the issue.
In yet another twist to the IPl scandal, Vaiko, the self-styled leader of Tamils, termed the BCCI decision to suspend the Chennai Super Kings as an anti-Tamil conspiracy hatched by the “North Indian lobby”.
Vaiko's charge is based on a letter purportedly written by former Match Commissioner lalith Modi to lawyer Harish Salve cautioning about Tamils following the election of N Srinivasan as the chairman of International Cricket Conference, the world body controlling the game of cricket.
The Madras High Court on Friday issued notice to BCCI following a petition filed by Chennai Super Kings seeking a stay on its disqualification from the IPl for two years on charges of match fixing.
A division Bench consisting of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice TS Sivagnanam issued notice to BCCI and adjourned the case to August 27.
The court adjourned the hearing to next Thursday. In its petition, city-based Indian Cements ltd, owner of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), also sought a stay on the committee's last month order.
The BCCI decision to suspend CSK was a fall out of the recommendations made by the committee headed by RM lodha, former Chief Justice of India, which went into the allegations that Gurunath Meyyappn, former Team Principal of CSK and Raj Kundra, owner of Rajasthan Royals were involved in betting and spot fixing during the 2013 edition of the IPl.
Dhoni-led CSK and Rajasthan Royals were on July 14 suspended for two years from the league following the 2013 betting scam involving their top officials Meiyappan and Raj Kundra.
Both Meyyappan and Kundra were suspended for life from all matches held by the BCCI. The lodha Committee probed the allegations about match fixing and decided the quantum of punishment as per the directives of the Supreme Court. The Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals face a ban for two years from the IPl.
“The sanctions imposed by the lodha Committee are illegal and beyond the reference made by the Supreme Court in its January 2015 order,” CSK had said in its petition. The CSK also submitted to the court that the inquiry and evidence surrounded only Meyyappan and the question of imposing punishment could not be on the team.
The court also ordered issuance of notice to India Cements, besides BCCI.