New Delhi:
India's cricket board has said that N Srinivasan will return as board president, despite questions raised about a probe panel's 'clean chit' to his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan in the IPL spot-fixing scandal.
Ravi Sawant, the treasurer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India or BCCI, today told NDTV: "The decision of the BCCI working committee was that Mr Srinivasan would sit out till the probe report. No evidence has been found against Gurunath Meiyappan, so Mr Srinivasan will resume his post."
The BCCI's working committee, its top decision-making body, is expected to meet on Friday next and Mr Srinavasan is likely to attend.
But the probe panel, which said there is no evidence of betting and spot-fixing against Mr Meiyappan and Raj Kundra of the Rajasthan Royals, concluded their inquiry without crucial inputs from the Mumbai Police, leading to criticism that the cricket board's internal inquiry is an "eyewash."
The panel had asked the Mumbai Police - which claims that Mr Meiyappan has admitted that he placed bets in the IPL - to depose before it, but the latter said they could depose only before a court. The board, the cops allege, did not bother to follow up thereafter.
"We had written to the BCCI over a month ago, pointing out that only the court can ask us to depose and asking under what provision we could depose before the panel. But the BCCI never responded," said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Himanshu Roy.
But sources in the board blamed the Mumbai Police, pointing out that the Delhi Police, which is also investigating the case, has had no qualms about sharing information with another inquiry committee.
BCCI vice president Niranjan Shah told NDTV that if police investigations find Mr Meiyappan or Mr Kundra guilty, the board will act against them.
Mr Srinivasan had in June very reluctantly agreed to step aside as the BCCI president, while charges against his son-in-law were investigated. Many BCCI members had demanded his resignation after his son-in-law was arrested on charges of gambling, cheating, and conspiracy in May.
But Mr Srinivasan only "stepped aside"; he claimed that Mr Meiyappan, constantly seen with the Chennai Super Kings team, which Mr Srinavasan's India Cements owns, was not a franchise official but only an IPL enthusiast.
Ravi Sawant, the treasurer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India or BCCI, today told NDTV: "The decision of the BCCI working committee was that Mr Srinivasan would sit out till the probe report. No evidence has been found against Gurunath Meiyappan, so Mr Srinivasan will resume his post."
The BCCI's working committee, its top decision-making body, is expected to meet on Friday next and Mr Srinavasan is likely to attend.
But the probe panel, which said there is no evidence of betting and spot-fixing against Mr Meiyappan and Raj Kundra of the Rajasthan Royals, concluded their inquiry without crucial inputs from the Mumbai Police, leading to criticism that the cricket board's internal inquiry is an "eyewash."
The panel had asked the Mumbai Police - which claims that Mr Meiyappan has admitted that he placed bets in the IPL - to depose before it, but the latter said they could depose only before a court. The board, the cops allege, did not bother to follow up thereafter.
"We had written to the BCCI over a month ago, pointing out that only the court can ask us to depose and asking under what provision we could depose before the panel. But the BCCI never responded," said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Himanshu Roy.
But sources in the board blamed the Mumbai Police, pointing out that the Delhi Police, which is also investigating the case, has had no qualms about sharing information with another inquiry committee.
BCCI vice president Niranjan Shah told NDTV that if police investigations find Mr Meiyappan or Mr Kundra guilty, the board will act against them.
Mr Srinivasan had in June very reluctantly agreed to step aside as the BCCI president, while charges against his son-in-law were investigated. Many BCCI members had demanded his resignation after his son-in-law was arrested on charges of gambling, cheating, and conspiracy in May.
But Mr Srinivasan only "stepped aside"; he claimed that Mr Meiyappan, constantly seen with the Chennai Super Kings team, which Mr Srinavasan's India Cements owns, was not a franchise official but only an IPL enthusiast.
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