With the Mudgal Committee submitting its report in the IPL spot-fixing case to the Supreme Court on Monday, two-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings could soon find themselves in trouble.
According to sources, suspended BCCI chief N Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan's alleged links with bookies could well be proved, making it difficult for CSK to escape termination.
The Justice Mukul Mudgal-led panel submitted its report in a sealed envelope to the apex court, the details of which were not made public, although it is believed that the report has conclusive evidence against some of the current and former cricketers and is likely to recommend strong action against all of them.
dna reported recently how Mudgal panel has found incriminating evidence proving Meiyappan's involvement in betting and also that he was part of the CSK franchise.
The tapped telephonic conversations, allegedly between Meiyappan and Vindoo Dara Singh — who was placing bets on the former's behalf — were tested at a forensic lab in Mumbai, which is said to have confirmed that the voice in the tape was of Meiyappan.
After submitting the report on Monday, Justice Mudgal acknowledged the help that he got from former India skipper Sourav Ganguly in preparing the report. "He has only given cricketing inputs. Ganguly's inputs helped a lot," Justice Mudgal said.
The committee was appointed in 2013 to investigate the alleged betting links between players and officials on one hand, and bookies on the other.
*Chennai Super Kings is owned by India Cements, whose managing director is Srinivasan.
Sources said Srinivasan's attendance during all the BCCI meetings, as representative of Tamil Nadu Cricket Association — despite the fact that he was barred by the apex court along with all other India Cements personnel — has not gone down well with the investigators.
"What is the difference whether he attends as BCCI chief or TNCA representative?" asked the source, adding: "The court is likely to take serious note of this as it amounts to a clear contempt."
The big question now is that as the court will take up the matter on November 10, what will happen to Srinivasan camp's plans to re-elect him to BCCI's top post from the East Zone?
As owner of the CSK team and India Cements, for Srinivasan there is clearly a case of conflict of interest.
"A lot depends on the Supreme Court's further action. If there are strong observations made against BCCI president and CSK, obviously there are so many officials waiting for the right time to raise their voice," a senior BCCI official said on Monday, adding: "Cricket is what attracts us all and not any individual."
Srinivasan has been charged repeatedly of running BCCI as if it were his 'personal property'.
The report apparently has a detailed report on many current and former Indian players' deposition before the Panel.
"There are several occasions when few players were confronted placing their telephone call details during questioning. And it will be interesting to go through the reasoning of a few individuals," said the source.
The Mudgal Panel was given assistance by former senior IPS officer BB Mishra, and greater investigative powers for search and seizure of relevant documents and the recording of evidence, though not the power to arrest.
Mishra and the panel were provided with assistance from one senior police officer each from Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi, and it was the first two months of their investigation that led to the panel submitting its interim report by the end of August.
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