After Mumbai Police charged his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan for betting and cheating during the sixth season of the Indian Premiere League (IPL), Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President-in-exile N. Srinivasan on Saturday stated that law would take its own in the case and that he had no reason to step aside from the Board's top office.
"Law will take its own course. Meiyappan has already been suspended. So, I have nothing further to add on to that. In addition, I think you must realize that about the probe commission, they are all sub judice. So, I don't think it is proper for me to make any comment," Srinivasan said.
Srinivasan remained tight-lipped in the matter, but maintained that he had no reason to resign from the helm of the BCCI on moral or ethical grounds since he has not been disqualified.
"Why should I step aside? I am not disqualified and neither can you push me out," an aggressive Srinivasan said.
Earlier today, the Mumbai Police filed a 11,609-page chargesheet in the IPL 6 corruption scandal, and Chennai Super Kings team principal Gurunath Meiyappan, Bollywood actor Vindoo Singh and Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf as offenders in the case.
The chargesheet, which has been filed by the crime branch of the Mumbai Police in the court of additional chief metropolitan magistrate Uday Padwad, has been compiled after taking 196 witness accounts and six forensic lab reports, which contain telephone conversations between the accused.
Meiyappan has been charged under section 66A of the Information Technology Act, sections 4 and 5 of the Gambling Act, sections 465 (forgery), 466 (forgery of record of court or of public register), 468 (forgery for cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 490 (breach of contract), 420 (cheating), 212 (harbouring the offender), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
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22 people have been named as accused, out of which 8 of them have been declared as 'wanted accused'.
On September 19, Srinivasan remained adamant that he would contest the next BCCI elections, despite the looming corruption allegations levelled against him in IPL 6.
According to reports the BCCI is divided on their support for their next President and former President Shashank Manohar and Sharad Pawar are favorable candidates to return to fill the board's top office.
Srinivasan would need 16 votes out of 31 to return as the BCCI President.
On September 13, Rajasthan Royals pacer Sreesanth was handed a life ban by the BCCI for his involvement in spot-fixing in IPL 2013. His IPL team-mate Ankeet Chavan was also banned for life.
Additionally, Gujarat cricketer-turned-bookie, Amit Singh was slammed with a five-year ban, while Rajasthan Royals seamer Siddharth Trivedi was suspended for one year for not reporting an approach during the twenty-twenty tournament.
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.
