NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday forced an apology from N Srinivasan’s lawyer for his presence at a BCCI working committee meeting while being asked to stay away from board activities and hinted at setting up a panel to punish the guilty in the IPL corruption case. It adjourned hearing till Wednesday.
“You say I want to be out of the decision-making process and then enter through the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. As recent as three weeks back, you were participating in the BCCI meeting,” said the bench. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal admitted it was a mistake.
The court hinted at setting up a committee to suggest measures for cleansing the game and ascertain if there was conflict of interest involving Srinivasan. “It has to be a high-powered committee which will also look into the conflict of interest and its findings will be binding on BCCI,” the bench said.
“We are not very keen to decide on punishment. We want the system to be more effective,” the bench said, adding that the panel would also look into whether a person’s involvement in administration while wearing multiple hats amounts to conflict of interest.
On a different note, there was hope for Srinivasan in what the court observed after his counsel raised the point of BCCI elections. “In this background, is Srinivasan not eligible to contest election? On what juristic principle can we stop him at this stage,” the bench asked.