IPL probe: Mudgal panel submits final report to Supreme Court

N Srinivasan

New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS) The Supreme Court appointed Justice Mukul Mudgal committee on Monday submitted its final report of its investigation into allegations of betting and spot-fixing in the 2013 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The committee, which investigated the allegations against sidelined Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief N. Srinivasan, who is now the International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman, and 12 others, submitted the report in a sealed cover.

An apex court bench of Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice R. Banumathi, before which senior counsel Raju Ramachandran submitted the report on Monday, said that it will be taken up for hearing as scheduled on November 10.

In the course of the last hearing of the matter on September 1, the apex court, while declining Srinivasan's plea to be reinstated as the BCCI president, had given the Mudgal committee two more months to complete and submit the final report of its probe in the scandal that had rocked the cash-rich league last year.

Sources close to Mudgal committee said that the final report is in more than 20 pages based on a voluminous record of the statements by 100 people including the 13 under the scanner.

The statements, running into about 200 pages, are ones that were recoded under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure that provides for the examination of witnesses.

Delhi Police were the first to bust the scandal after they arrested three Rajasthan Royals cricketers - S. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan - in a midnight raid in Mumbai during the tournament.

Mumbai police also unearthed betting links after they arrested Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan and Bollywood actor Vindu Dara Singh.

In October last year, the Supreme Court appointed a three-member committee, headed by former High Court judge Mukul Mudgal and comprising additional solicitor general L. Nageswara Rao and senior advocate Nilay Dutta.

The court told the panel to conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations of corruption against Meiyappan, India Cements, and Rajasthan Royals team co-owner Raj Kundra and also asked it to look into the involvement of players.

In March, the Supreme Court suspended Srinivasan as the BCCI president following two reports submitted a month earlier by the Mudgal committee and a sealed envelope containing 13 names.

The court in its interim order stated that Srinivasan be replaced by former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Shivlal Yadav. Gavaskar was given charge of IPL affairs while former Test spinner Shivlal Yadav was entrusted with non-IPL issues.

The Supreme Court, May 16, gave the Mudgal committee greater powers to investigate the contents of the sealed envelope that it had provided the apex court along with the report.

A group of investigators headed by senior IPS officer B.B. Mishra assisted the Mudgal Committee, which was given the power to probe, search and seize relevant documents and record evidence, though not the power to arrest.

The court had said that the Mudgal panel would also be assisted by Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai police, and it will not reveal anything regarding the investigation to others and the media and will maintain absolute confidentiality.

The Mudgal panel, which was asked to submit a report by August-end, seeked a two-month extension to complete its probe, which was granted by the Supreme Court.

In another setback for the BCCI, the board was forced to postpone its Annual General Meeting (AGM) after the Supreme Court on September 1 ignored its pleas to reinstate Srinivasan as its president.

The court also referred to an earlier order by Justice A.K. Patnaik saying Srinivasan "could not come back as BCCI president as long as the probe is on".

The BCCI will have its eyes fixed on Supreme Court's next date of hearing – November 10 – that could very well decide Srinivasan's future as a cricket administrator.