The Bombay High Court on Tuesday declared the probe panel formed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to look into allegations of spot-fixing during the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as illegal and unconstitutional, and directed the latter to form a new panel to investigate the issue correctly.
The high court's ruling now means that the BCCI's move to declare alleged Chennai Super Kings principal Gurunath Meiyappan and Rajasthan Royals part owner Raj Kundra innocent of spot fixing and betting is null and void.
The court said that a fresh probe needs to conducted against Meiyappan and Kundra. This also means that the return of N. Srinivasan as president of the BCCI has been delayed.
Earlier this month, the counsel representing the BCCI had argued that the Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) had no locus standi to file a public interest litigation (PIL) on its (BCCI's)functioning, and said that all operational rules were followed while setting up the panel and there were no grounds to interfere.
The matter is being heard by High Court Justice Shiavax Vazifdar, who had asked the BCCI to make submissions on how the probe panel was set up and under what provisions.
Earlier, the Cricket Association of Bihar's counsel Virendra Tulzapurkar had furnished emails sent by BCCI office-bearers Sanjay Jagdale and Ajay Shirke, in which they claimed that no meeting had taken place.
The BCCI had declared on May 28 that its five-member disciplinary committee had picked the three-man probe panel, including two retired high court judges. It was set up to inquire into charges against president N Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, following his arrest by the Mumbai Police for betting on IPL matches.
More From This Section
The PIL also questioned the sanctity of the panel as it was constituted while Srinivasan was still the president. He stepped aside only on June 2, even though there were demands from many sections for him to resign so that he couldn't have an influence on the inquiry.
Tulzapurkar has also contended that the BCCI had not provided the minutes of any meeting for forming the panel.