The dark underbelly of IPl cricket stood further exposed on Monday when a Supreme Court-appointed committee constituted to probe the recent spot-fixing scam indicted Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of BCCI chairperson N Srinivasan, for placing bets in IPl matches, and pointed to flow of terror and hawala funds in cricket. The committee also called for further probe into the role of Jaipur IPl franchisee owners Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty.
In a three-volume report submitted to the Supreme Court, the committee headed by former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal, described Meiyappan as the face of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) — the IPl team owned by Srinivasan, who held it in his capacity as head of India Cements limited. While Meiyappan’s role in betting was clearly made out, the committee suggested further probe on his involvement in fixing of matches, including charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
A bench of Justices AK Patnaik and FM Ibrahim Kalifulla took the report out from a sealed cover and directed copies of it to be supplied to BCCI, India Cements, Jaipur IPl and Cricket Association of Bihar. The SC directed the matter to be heard on March 7 and clarified that any order passed in this proceeding will not impact the IPl auctions to be held on February 13. The Cricket Association of Bihar is a petitioner in this case.
Following a four-month probe, the committee formed by the apex court in October 2013, hinted at a possible conflict of interest on the part of Srinivasan. “The franchisee owner of CSK is responsible for failing to ensure Meiyappan (team official) had complied with BCCI Anti-Corruption Code, IPl Operational Rules, IPl Regulations and hence the franchisee’s actions are in violation of Section 4.4.1 of the IPl Operational Rules and Clause 11.3 of the franchisee agreement,” the report said.
Meiyappan placed bets through Vindoo Dara Singh and Ramesh Vyas, the latter is linked to notorious underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, said the committee, comprising Justice Mudgal and senior advocate lN Rao and N Dutta. The committee felt that the police investigation into the spot-fixing scandal was not up to the mark.
While Mumbai Police probed the role of Meiyappan without exploring the involvement of Dawood and use of hawala money into the IPl betting syndicate, the Delhi Police went soft on Jaipur IPl franchise owner Raj Kundra and actress Shilpa Shetty, against whom the committee recommended further probe. The committee criticised handling of the case by both police forces, suspecting them of working at cross purposes.
The committee felt that stringent punishment alone will be a deterrent to stub out such malpractices from the game of cricket. Supporting IPl format of the game to be a well conceived concept to nurture young talent, it called for containing the malaise of betting, spot-fixing and hawala and terror money getting into the game with active connivance of IPl team owners, middlemen and players. “The law must provide for stringent deterrent punishment similar to MCOCA and restrictive bail provision in the NDPS.
This is necessary because influx of hawala money and involvement of terrorists in matter of betting and fixing sports is causing serious threat to national security,” the report said. The committee suggested that IPl should be a stand-alone commercial entity with a Board having representatives of franchises, BCCI, broadcasters, and independent professionals. Based on interviews conducted with former BCCI chairpersons, journalists and persons connected with cricket, the committee listed out names of six Indian players in a sealed cover, some who are still part of the Indian team, for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing and betting.
As a way forward, the committee proposed that BCCI must register player’s agents, issue them a mobile connection that can be put under surveillance, and ban all post-match parties where players get free access to private persons, bookies and middlemen.