CHENNAI: After a recent meeting with officials of the Anti-Corruption Unit, the Committee of Administrators (CoA) running the BCCI has made an appeal to the Supreme Court. It has urged that investigations be started against nine of the 13 persons who have been named in the report of the Justice Mudgal Committee. These names in sealed envelopes are with the court.
“The CoA suggests that necessary action (after further investigation, if required) should be taken against the remaining nine persons named by the Justice Mudgal Committee in the aforementioned report. For this purpose, the Honorable Supreme Court may consider handing over the remaining portion of the said report (which is kept in a sealed cover with the Honorable Supreme Court) to the ACU for necessary action in conjunction with relevant authorities,” the CoA wrote in a note which has been uploaded on the BCCI website.
While it remains to be seen if the court approves this, it can be remembered that these names in sealed covers had seldom been mentioned during the course of court cases and hearings in BCCI matters over the last few years. There are indications that if made public, these names will cause a stir.
It has been learnt that the CoA recently held a meeting with the BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Unit to finalise certain guidelines to be put in place in the near future. It’s not clear whether this meeting had anything to do with the number of incidents increasing in recent times.
But the CoA did spell out a few steps which are expected to come into effect in the near future. For example, it has decided that seminars and sessions for players on how to stay away from corrupt practices and persons should be held more often in regional languages, not just in English. There are also talks of employing Integrity Officers for all international and domestic matches, not just during the IPL.
The CoA is also of the view that the BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Unit should report to the ombudsman instead of the BCCI president or apex council. However, it’s not clear when these steps would be formalised.