Amid criticism for giving clean chit to IPl franchise owners in the match fixing scandal that rocked the T20 league earlier this year despite not having access to all the details related to the case, the BCCI on Monday remained defiant.
Board’s vice-president Niranjan Shah, who also attended the working committee meeting in Kolkata on Sunday, defended the report of its two-member panel comprising former High Court judges which inquired into the scandal, saying they could not depend on the police report since the two-member commission was already on the job.
“I think we can’t depend on police report as we had already constituted a commission and whatever the commission said is final,” BCCI Vice-President Niranjan Shah said when questioned as to why the BCCI didn’t wait for Mumbai and Delhi police to complete their probe before acquitting BCCI’s ‘president in exile’ and Chennai Super Kings owner N Srinivasan, his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan and Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra of any wrondoing on account of lack of evidence.
Shah reiterated that the probe panel comprising Retd Justice Jayaram Chouta and Retd Justice R Balasubramanian had to continue the probe with whatever “available material”. “I think BCCI can’t do anything about it (on reports that Mumbai Police didn’t co-operate with panel) as we have no control over it. So, we have to live with whatever material that is available to us,” Shah said.
‘wait for police report’
But the Sports Ministry made it clear that it does not give much importance to the verdict and would rather wait for the police probe to get over. “The BCCI might have cleared them but I think the Indian Cricket Board should wait for the police probe to get over,” Sports Secretary P K Deb said.
However, Shah maintained that if any of the accused is found guilty during further investigations by the police authorities, BCCI will take immediate cognisance. “If anyone is convicted, automatically the BCCI will take notice and step in to take necessary action,” Shah said.
The haste in which the probe was completed triggered fresh calls for the Board to be brought under the RTI purview. “I don’t blame (BCCI acting chief) Jagmohan Dalmiya or Srinivasan for this. The politicians are hell bent on making BCCI the next Indian Olympic Association. We have seen what happened to IOA due to political interference and now the same is happening with BCCI,” former India cricketer Kirti Azad said.
“Mumbai police has said that the investigation is still on. Delhi police is still investigating and the BCCI panel has given them a clean chit. Is BCCI above the law and constitution of the countryIJ”
‘Bring BCCI under RTI’
Azad felt the BCCI should be immediately brought under the ambit of the Right To Information act. “There is no other alternative. The government has to intervene and bring BCCI under the RTI. When former sports minister. If BCCI claims that they do auditing of their account, then why do they hesitate to come under RTIIJ” Azad queried.“It is time to make BCCI functioning more transparent and it can be done through RTI,” he said.Justice Mukul Mudgal, who headed the committee constituted to draft the Sports Development Bill 2013, was also in favour of bringing the BCCI under the RTI.
“RTI will apply to all sports bodies and even cricket will come under it. Apart from a few exemptions like one cannot raise questions regarding why a particular player/coach is selected over another, or the contents of a player’s contract, medical health and fitness etc, the public is authorised to raise questions,” said Justice Mudgal.
The working group also includes eminent sportspersons like Olympic gold medal-winning shooter Abhinav Bindra and former India hockey skipper Viren Rasquinha, sports administrators and legal experts. “If the BCCI refuses to come under the ambit of the RTI then they cannot send the national team under the tag ‘India’,” said sports expert Boria Mazumdar.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals said that they would wait for a formal clearance from the IPl Governing Council before making any statement. “We are very happy to know that Mr Kundra’s name has been cleared of any wrongdoing. The franchise will come out with an official statement once the IPl governing council ratifies the decision of the working committee,” a senior Royals official said.
The presence Kundra at the upcoming Champions league Twenty20 depends on that decision. “A call in this regard will be taken after the IPl governing council meeting on August 2.”“As of now, the BCCI hasn’t made any formal contact with us or issued a notification about clearing Kundra,” the official said.