Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty said the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council has decided to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court against the order of the Bombay High Court, which had declared the probe panel report as invalid.
Shetty said that the IPL Governing Council met this morning and lawyer and BJP leader Arun Jaitley explained the important points in the Bombay High Court order to the members. After a brief discussion, the committee decided to file an SLP against the order of the Bombay High Court.
"The Governing Council believes that the probe commission was properly constituted in accordance with the IPL Operational Rules," said Sanjay Patel, the Honorary Secretary of the BCCI in a statement.
Patel also said Jagmohan Dalmiya would continue as the interim President, in light of the pending appeal made to the Supreme Court.
Shetty assured that the decision to move to the Supreme Court was taken in absence of President-in-exile N. Srinivasan.
"Mr. Srinivasan recused himself from the IPL Governing Council meeting today. It is only after that that the meeting started and the decisions were taken," assured Shetty here today.
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Earlier this week, BCCI's internal investigation had handed a clean chit to the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals following allegations of betting and spot-fixing against them in the sixth edition of the tournament. The two-member probe panel declared that there was no evidence of fixing by N. Srinivasan's son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan. Mr Srinivasan's firm, India Cements, owns the Chennai Super Kings.
Acting on a petition filed by the Bihar Cricket Association, the Bombay High Court ruled that the BCCI's internal investigation was invalid alleging that there was a conflict of interest with regard to Srinivasan being the father-in-law of one of the prime accused.
Shetty also announced that Sanjay Jagdale and Ajay Shirke, who had resigned from the committee after corruption in IPL 6 came to light, will be replaced on the Ethics Committee by Sanjay Patel (Honorary Secretary, BCCI) and Ravi Sawant (Honorary Treasurer, BCCI).
Meanwhile, Shetty refused to comment on the reason for which the BCCI Working Committee meeting was called off today. According to reports, the Working Committee was scheduled to meet shortly after the IPL Governing Council met, but was cancelled at the last moment.
The BCCI has been inflicted with several controversies after multiple allegations were made against players and owners, as part of the IPL spot-fixing scandal at the tournament's sixth edition.
N. Srinivasan, who owns India Cements, had stepped aside as the BCCI chief after his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, part of the Chennai Super Kings management, was arrested on charges of betting in IPL matches. He was later released on bail.
Earlier, Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra was questioned by Delhi Police and was reported to have been betting on IPL matches.
The scandal broke up with the arrest of three cricketers - S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila - amidst IPL 6.