The Supreme Court, on Friday, refused to hand over to the Board of Control for Cricket in India lawyers the audio recording of statements made by Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Board president and CSK owner N. Srinivasan and Indian Premier League Chief Operating Officer Sundar Raman. All three had deposed before the court-appointed inquiry committee, headed by retired judge Justice Mukul Mudgal.
The two-judge bench of Justice A.K. Patnaik and Justice J.S. Khehar told the BCCI lawyers on Friday that they will examine if handing over the transcripts is required when the IPL scam case comes up for hearing again on April 16.
BCCI, on Wednesday, had filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking examination of the deposition of Dhoni, Srinivasan and Sundar Raman before the Mudgal committee that was appointed to probe last year’s IPL corruption scandal.
The Mudgal committee, appointed in October 2013, had investigated the IPL scandal for four months before submitting its reports to the two-judge Supreme Court bench on February 10. Along with two reports, the panel also submitted a sealed envelope that contained “many allegations of sporting fraud”. Several reports have circulated in the media that links India skipper Dhoni with bookies.
The BCCI’s lawyers sought transcripts of the deposition saying they wanted to argue their case better on April 16. A final order from the court is expected after the next hearing.
The petitioner’s counsel has already charged Dhoni for not revealing the real identity of Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, who has been indicted by the panel for betting and sharing team information. Dhoni reportedly said Meiyappan was “an enthusiast”. The Mudgal committee, in its report, confirmed Meiyappan was a team official.
Supreme Court has already passed an interim order on March 28. It has stripped Srinivasan of his powers as BCCI president and appointed two interim Board heads — Sunil Gavaskar (for IPL affairs) and Shivlal Yadav (for non-IPL affairs).
The court also wants Gavaskar to take action against Sundar Raman, whose name has also been linked to betting. Sundar Raman has run the IPL ever since it started in 2008.
