Former Justice Mukul Mudgal, whose independent probe committee carried out a four-month long investigation into corruption in the Indian Premier League (IPL), on Friday welcomed the orders passed by the Supreme Court to appoint former Indian cricket captain and commentator as the interim president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Justice Mudgal said that the apex court had acted correctly on the matter, and hoped that Gavaskar would be able to do justice to the new role that he has acquired.
He had earlier said that players should not suffer as a result of the ongoing case between the BCCI and the Cricket Association of Bihar in the Supreme Court.
Responding to the Supreme Court's proposals to change the leadership of the BCCI on Thursday, Justice Mudgal said the recommendations were a "punishment" for IPL offences.
"I can't totally comment on them [the proposals] because this depends on what the Board's response is," he was quoted by ESPNcricinfo, as saying.
He said: "But it's a punishment for the IPL offences and the Supreme Court will take a look after the BCCI's response and see what punishment should be imposed on the teams. Perhaps all the players should not suffer."
Mudgal pointed out that the suspension of Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, whose players and team officials faced arrests over alleged involvement in betting and spot-fixing, had only been suggested by the court.
He said that the Supreme Court would look at all the ifs and buts and the pros and cons before actually passing any order, and added that he had expected nothing else except and very balanced and an absolutely correct order.
"This [the proposals] is only to elicit the response of the BCCI, according to me... There are clean players, too. I'm sure the court will take that into consideration."
Mudgal, a cricket fan for the last six decades, said that despite corruption in the IPL, it could not be assumed that "all matches are fixed."
He said: "There are bad fish but not everybody should be painted with the same brush. We have some extremely dedicated players who sincerely work hard."
In the Supreme Court on Thursday, there were several references by the CAB's defence counsel Harish Salve, to the many overlapping roles being carried out during Srinivasan's term as BCCI president and often leading back to him.
These related not merely to Srinivasan's positions as board president, managing director of India Cements and, through that, owner of the Super Kings franchise in the IPL. There were also several India Cements officials holding positions in the BCCI administrative structures and the company also employed MS Dhoni as a vice-president.
The conflict of issue, Justice Mudgal said, had been brought into his report even thought it was not in the committee's terms of reference.
The Supreme Court on Friday asked former Indian cricket captain and commentator Sunil Gavaskar to discharge the role of interim president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the duration of the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), and also said there would be no ban on the participation of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in that tournament.
The apex court order dealt a telling and heavy blow to the reputation of current BCCI president N.Srinivasan, who has been asked to step aside till the probe into the spot fixing controversy engulfing last year's sixth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is completed.
The apex court said that no IPL team would be disqualified and that Gavaskar would be assisted by the BCCI secretary and the senior most vice president of the board in the discharge of the Indian cricket board's functions.
Earlier, reports said that the BCCI is all set to oppose the apex court's three interim proposals, including the appointment of former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar as interim president.
According to television channel reports, the BCCI had decided that it would say that it has its own set of rules and has no place to accommodate an 'external' candidate like Gavaskar, a former Indian Test captain.
The BCCI's offer of N Srinivasan stepping aside, but not stepping down as president will continue to stand.
Levelling charges of conflict of interest against the current BCCI president N Srinivasan, the apex court had suggested on Thursday that Gavaskar could take over as interim president till the probe on Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan for his involvement in betting during the IPL 2013 is completed.
The BCCI is also likely to put forth the point that it has ex-cricketers like Shivlal Yadav and Anil Kumble as members and they can take over, if required. It is also likely to argue that preventing Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals from participating in the seventh edition of the IPL could result in a fiscal loss of over Rs.400 crores.
Both IPL teams are being investigated for alleged corrupt practices.
According to the BCCI's constitution, Yadav, a former Test off-spinner from Hyderabad and one of the five vice-presidents, is the front-runner to be president if Srinivasan is removed. Yadav had chaired a meeting of the BCCI working committee in February, when Srinivasan opted out due to bereavement in the family.
According to Clause 15 (V) of BCCI's rules and regulations, "In case of vacancy occurring in the office of president by reason of death or by him being adjudged insolvent or by him being convicted in a criminal case by a competent Court or by resignation or otherwise, the honorary secretary shall within fifteen days convene a Special General Body Meeting to elect the president who shall be nominated by at least one full member from the zone which proposed the name of the president whose term was cut short prematurely. Such person who is so elected shall hold office till the next elections."
According to the reports, the Supreme Court wants either Gavaskar or Sourav Ganguly to take over as interim BCCI president. Gavaskar has said that he has informed the apex court of his current contractual obligations to various cricketing entities around the world, including the BCCI,but added that should the Supreme Court still feel that he is the right man for the temporary assignment, he would see it as a challenge and a huge honour, and accept the job as a duty.
