A defiant Narayanaswami Srinivasan Thursday said there is no bar on his seeking a third year as president of the Indian cricket board and he would stand for re-election at the Sep 29 Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Chennai.
"Yes, I am eligible for re-election ... why shouldn't I contest to seek a third year as board chief," Srinivasan told IANS over phone from Mumbai.
Srinivasan, who was in Mumbai to attend a meeting of the marketing committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said: "What wrong have I committed not to seek re-election?"
the police investigation into
Asked shouldn't he morally stay away from the board till his son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings principal Gurunath Meiyappan is cleared of the charge of betting in the sixth edition of Indian Premier League (IPL), Srinivasan shot back: "There is nothing against me. I have not been implicated in any case. In fact, I had voluntarily stepped down when the scandal broke out. So why should I stay away from the election."
Mumbai police is expected to file its chargesheet in the betting and spot-fixing case and Meiyappan, Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf and actor Vindoo Dara Singh are likely to figure among 21 people expected to face cheating and forgery charges.
Apart from his problems in the board, Srinivasan and his company Indian Cements are in trouble for their business dealings.
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Last week, Srinivasan and India Cements, owners of Chennai Super Kings, were chargesheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a corruption case involving YSR Congress party chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy.
After being chargesheeted, Srinivasan said it would be unfair to link his business with his cricket.
"Don't mix the two things, it's unfair to do that. I don't want to comment much on that," Srinivasan told IANS.
Srinivasan had stepped aside as the BCCI president handing over charge to Jagmohan Dalmiya after Meiyappan was arrested by Mumbai police for his alleged betting in IPL matches.
But a two-member probe panel, constituted by the IPL Governing Council, had given a clean chit to Meiyappan. He is now out on bail.
While Mumbai police have slammed the shoddy functioning of the two-member probe panel, the Bombay High Court also termed the probe body as unconstitutional. The BCCI has gone in appeal challenging the High Court decision.
Srinivasan made his intentions of getting back into the board clear when he chaired Friday in Delhi a meeting of its disciplinary committee, which banned cricketers S. Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan for life, Amit Singh for five years and Siddharth Trivedi for one year for their role in spot-fixing.
Srinivasan, however, is wondering why his critics are surprised.
"I am surprised. In fact, in the last working committee meeting of the BCCI, I was asked by the members that I can carry out my constitutional rights as the BCCI president," Srinivasan told IANS.
Asked if he has the numbers to get another term, Srinivasan said: "I will only say the BCCI constitution gives me the right to seek another term. The media has gone out of its way to report whether I have the numbers or not. They know it better."