"In our opinion, Srinivasan has to step down for a fair investigation into the allegation of betting," said Justice A.K. Patnaik in the course of the hearing the Justice Mukul Mudgal report that went into the allegations of betting and spot fixing in the IPL. "It's nauseating that N. Srinivasan continued as BCCI chief, he should go if cricket has to be cleaned," the court said. Meanwhile, Srinivasan has refused to comment on the issue, saying he will "study the court observations".
A Bench of Justices A.K. Patnaik and Ibrahim Kalifulla after going through the report in the ‘sealed cover’ made it clear to senior counsel Ariama Sundaram appearing for the BCCI: “You ask N. Srinivasan to step down, otherwise we will give our verdict asking him to step down.”
The case will come up for hearing again on March 27,2014
As senior counsel C.A. Sundaram sought to defend BCCI, Justice Patnaik said: "We will show the papers. You see it and tell us as a counsel about your opinion and not as a paid counsel for Srinivasan."
The Mudgal Committee submitted 2 reports to the SC on Feb 10,2014
The first, signed by retired judge Justice Mudgal and Additional Solicitor General of India L. Nageswara Rao, asked the court to "decide the further course of action" because the probe committee did not have the power to impose punishment.
Another supplementary report, signed by Nilay Dutta, a vice-president of Assam Cricket Association and a member of the IPL Governing Council, said: "This should not be misinterpreted to mean that the report suggests that the Hon'ble Court would decide on the punishment or penalty to be imposed."
The BCCI, which is backing Dutta's comments, wanted theSC to let it start fresh disciplinary proceedings against Gurunath and Chennai Super Kings under the IPL franchise rules.
The SC is not willing to do and has instead asked Srinivasan to step down.
In July 2013,, a 2-member BCCI-appointed panel comprising a pair of retired judges (T Jayaram Chouta and R Balasubramanian) had found "no evidence of any wrongdoing" on the part of Gurunath and Rajasthan royals co-owner Raj Kundra.
However, the Mudgal panel pointed out that the question of whether or not Gurunath had been involved in match-fixing and spot-fixing "not been investigated thoroughly" by the anti-corruption units of the ICC and the BCCI or the Crime Branch Criminal Investigation Department of the Chennai police, "even though some information was available for such an investigation to be conducted."
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