The Supreme Court’s disclosure of four names among those investigated by the Justice Mukul Mudgal committee marks another step in the excruciating process of cleaning up Indian cricket. The fact that the court chose to merely name four officials and non-players without disclosing the findings against them in the committee’s report has contributed to considerable uncertainty. The Board of Control for Cricket in India is due to elect a new president, but the annual general meeting is being delayed, presumably to give more time to N. Srinivasan, who has ‘stepped aside’ from the office during the pendency of the investigation, to get a clean chit before seeking re-election. The court has hinted at ‘misdemeanour’ on the part of the persons named, but has also added that at the moment it cannot say anything on whether Mr. Srinivasan can contest or seek a fresh term without the issues raised in the report being addressed. Any inference drawn from the disclosure of names may be misleading unless the exact nature of the ‘misdemeanour’ found against them is also made known. The Court has now given them an opportunity to rebut the panel’s findings. Given the prolonged uncertainty over the outcome of the probe, which was completed and the final report submitted to the court some time ago, it would have been more desirable if the findings were simultaneously revealed along with all the names given by the panel in a sealed cover. Given that the reputation of players is no more — and no less — deserving of protection than that of non-players, none of those under investigation should be shielded from public scrutiny in open judicial proceedings.
The immediate consequence is that Mr. Srinivasan, the president of the Indian cricket board who has ‘stepped aside’ from the functions associated with the office, is in a spot. Mr. Srinivasan has all along been maintaining that he has done no wrong and that there is no investigation directed at him, as he cannot be held responsible for the actions of his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, associated with the Chennai Super Kings. It remains to be seen if there is any serious finding against him. Ever since the reality of betting and spot-fixing came to light in the 2013 edition of the Indian Premier League, the cricket establishment has been under a cloud. It reacted with denial and came up with no credible mechanism to probe the affairs. The fact that ‘misdemeanour’ has been established against four individuals — Mr. Srinivasan, Mr. Meiyappan, Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra and the IPL’s chief operating officer, Sundar Raman — indicates that the rot runs deep in IPL. Tainted hands need to be kept off this highly popular tournament.
