The Supreme Court of India on Friday deferred hearing on the findings of the Justice Mudgal Committee investigation into corruption in the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament and posted the matter for next hearing on March 25.
Earlier, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) filled an affidavit in which it requested the apex court not to reveal the contents of the sealed envelope submitted by the Mudgal committee.
A three-member inquiry committee, led by Justice Mukul Mudgal, submitted its findings in a sealed enveloped on February 10. It is believed that the 170-page-report, with annexures running into more than 4000 pages, includes statements of players and officials associated with IPL.
The committee’s report concluded that Gurunath Meiyappan, BCCI president N Srinivasan’s son-in-law, was the de facto owner of the Chennai Super Kings and that he had not only bet on the IPL, but also passed information on the matches to others.
BCCI Raj Kundra, one of the co-owners of the Rajasthan Royals, was also investigated but the committee did not find conclusive evidence that he bet on IPL matches. It did, however, recommend further investigation into the allegations of Kundra.
The BCCI itself appointed a two-member panel, comprising retired judges T Jayaram Chouta and R Balasubramanian, last July to investigate on the alleged claims of widespread corruption in IPL. But the penal had declared that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra, the two who were also probed by the Mudgal committee.
The other two members of the Mudgal committee are additional solicitor general L Nageswara Rao and Assam Cricket Association member Nilay Dutta. It was set up by the Supreme Court in October last year to conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations of corruption against Gurunath and Raj Kundra, as well as betting and spot-fixing in IPL.
