'My conscience allowed me to remain BCCI chief'

New Delhi, Oct 9 (IANS) A defiant Narayanaswami Srinivasan Wednesday said his conscience allowed him to continue as the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

He, however, refused to answer any question on his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, accused in the Indian Premier League (IPL) betting scandal.

“Most certainly, I would not have taken up the position if I felt otherwise. And, as I said in the beginning, I stand for what I do. If I have done something wrong, yes, my conscience would not permit me. But in this case it was not so that is what I said in the very beginning,” Srinivasan told Times Now in an interview.

“If this is the road we want to travel, then in a sense we differ (from each other) then. If that is your view, you are entitled to that,” he added.

Srinivasan was clearly uncomfortable taking questions on Meiyappan, a former team principal of Chennai Super Kings, owned by his company India Cements, and at one point also wanted to walk off from the interview given to a news channel.

Asked about the shoddy probe by the two-member panel set up by BCCI, Srinivasan said: “I cannot answer it because the panel was set up after I had stepped aside as the president. I was not even part of the probe panel. The report was submitted to the working committee and I was not even part of it.”

Srinivasan also refused to comment whether the image of cricket in India has taken a beating after the betting and the spot-fixing scandal in the IPL.

“I don’t agree that people had any anger against me. I can only say that I was attacked savagely by the media. For 12-13 days, I was on the front page of the newspapers and some 81 articles were written about me. Am I that important?” he asked.

Srinivasan Tuesday was allowed by the Supreme Court to take over as the BCCI president. The apex court also set up a three-member panel, headed by Mukul Mudgal, former retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, to look into allegations of betting and spot-fixing in the IPL and submit the report in four months.