Even as the IPL Governing Council promise a “fair and fearless” probe into the charges against Gurunath Meiyappan , legal experts and former board officials believe the three-member commission, comprising two former High Court judges and the BCCI secretary, is all but a farce.
The formation of the committee itself violated BCCI’s rule book. “Under the BCCI bye-laws, a disciplinary committee (read commission in this context) is appointed annually by the general body of the board consisting of all 30 members. Twenty one days’ notice is mandatory for any such deliberation,” contended noted lawyer Mehmood Abdi: The hastiness in which the commission was constituted, without resorting to the mandatory procedure, raises suspicion. “The hurried manner in bypassing the general body in appointing the commission shows that Srinivasan is unsure of the support of the majority of the members of the general house and wants to have a clean chit issued to him through the short cut,” he explained.
According to Abdi, the commission cannot probe into conduct of an outsider, which Gurunath Meiyappan is, according to the CSK management. “Any BCCI committee or commission can enquire into the conduct of its members only and not a rank outsider since Srinivasan has declared his son-in-law as just a cricket enthusiast,” he said. The prospective objectivity of their inquest is another contentious issue.
“They will only be signing on the dotted lines of Srinivasan. And how can you have a paid employee (Sanjay Jagdale) on the probe panel? BCCI have once again proven that it has no conscience and no ethics. We need a fair investigating team, not caged parrots,” observed another lawyer Rahul Mehra, who advocates a thorough overhaul of the GC.
Ushanath Banerjee, a former BCCI advocate, suggests the Sports Ministry to appoint a separate commission. “For transparency, why not ask the Ministry of Sports to appoint a commission under the Commission of Enquiry Act? Is it not interesting that the president, son-in-law and even the judges are all from Chennai?” he asked.
Former BCCI president AC Muthiah reckons this is another BCCI ploy to convince the media and public that they are not doing anything. “It’s very obvious that it’s an attempt to put cotton over your eyes,” he said.