Complying with a local court order, Rajasthan Police on Friday registered an FIR against BCCI president N Srinivasan and his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan on allegations of fixing an IPL-6 match between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here on May 12.
On a complaint filed by former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi’s legal counsel Mehmood Abdi, who is also president of Sri Ganganagar District Cricket Association, the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Satish Chandra Godara ordered the Jyoti Nagar Police station here to lodge the FIR.
ACP-Ashok Nagar Mahendra Singh Harsana said that the case was filed under sections 420 and 120-B of IPC for cheating and dishonesty. The FIR was registered after receiving the complaint and probe will begin appropriately, the ACP said.
Abdi filed the complaint in the court of appropriate jurisdiction in Jaipur on October 26 and the learned court of the additional Chief judicial Magistrate on October 28 issued directions to Jaipur Police to investigate into the allegations.
In his complaint Abdi alleged that Srinivasan and Meiyappan had used their substantial influence to ensure that Super Kings underperformed, in order for the accused to gain financial benefits through illegal match-related betting activities.
He further alleged that pre-match rumours suggested that Super Kings would deliberately underperform and score around 130 to 140 to ensure a Rajasthan Royals victory. They scored 141 and the Royals chased down the target in 17 overs.
It was pointed out that despite having some of the biggest hitters in their side, Super Kings did not manage a single six in the match, while Rajasthan Royals hit nine. The average score of the Chennai Super Kings in the competition was 188, whereas in the Jaipur match they got only 141.
It was also claimed that the credibility of the BCCI president and his son-in-law had been further questioned through the public accusation of Srinivasan’s son, Ashwin, of his father’s involvement in betting and match-fixing.
Former president of the BCCI, IS Bindra’s revelations relating to the presence of a lady connected to a bookie with a CSK player during India’s tour of Sri Lanka in 2010 and its eventual cover up by Srinivasan only adds question marks to the BCCI president’s credibility.
Add to that the accusation that the BCCI president continually broke moral and governance norms by circumventing BCCI rules and appointing IPL match umpires unilaterally; some of whom are employees of India Cements, and there is enough reason to probe the complaint.