Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Vice President Niranjan Shah said today that the Board was united in its actions, though at times their individual opinions may differ. He also clarified that there is no internal friction within the BCCI, with regard to the validity of the Indian Premiere League (IPL) probe panel's report.
"I am happy that the BCCI has today taken a very nice step, which will improve the image of BCCI. There is no friction in the BCCI. ...Sometimes, there are different opinions," Shah said here today.
Shah's comments come after the IPL Governing Council met earlier today, which decided to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court against the Bombay High Court's order which deemed the internal investigation of the BCCI as invalid. It was also decided that Jagmohan Dalmiya would continue to function as the interim-President, in light of the pending appeal made to the Supreme Court. The decisions were taken after President-in-exile N. Srinivasan recused himself from the meeting.
On Thursday, the BCCI Vice President had reportedly told media persons that the BCCI should carry out a fresh probe against those who have been accused of corruption during the sixth season of the IPL.
Shah used the opportunity today to clarify the context of his statement saying: "I had previously said that if it comes to it, the BCCI should carry out a new probe panel with accordance to the Bombay High Court order. However, it didn't reach that stage because amongst us there are eminent lawyers who explained the details to us. Arun Jaitley was amongst those, so we are all one together."
The IPL Governing Council meeting declared that "the probe commission was properly constituted in accordance with the IPL Operational Rules" on Friday.
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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.
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.
