Supreme Court defers hearing on BCCI probe panel matter for two weeks

The Supreme Court today deferred for two weeks hearing on petitions relating to controversy over the appointment of panel to probe the IPL spot-fixing scam in which BCCI has challenged the Bombay High Court order holding as illegal board's two-member committee. When the matter came up at the fag end of the day, a bench comprising justices AK Patnaik and JS Khehar said the petitions will be listed after two weeks.

The BCCI counsel requested for a date for hearing but the bench said it cannot give a fixed date. The bench on August 30 had also heard the petition filed by Aditya Verma, Secretary, Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) challenging High court order refusing to appoint a fresh committee to probe IPL spot fixing scam.

It had issued notices to the BCCI, N Srinivasan, his company India Cements which owns IPL team Chennai Super Kings, and Rajasthan Royals on his plea.

The CAB's petition was clubbed with the petition of BCCI which had challenged the judgement declaring as illegal the Indian cricket board's two-member probe panel set up to look into spot-fixing and betting charges in the IPL tournament.

The CAB pleaded that the High Court which declared the panel of two judges unconstitutional should have appointed a fresh panel to look into the issue. The cross appeals filed by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and CAB was listed for hearing yesterday and today but could not be heard.

The apex court had earlier on August 7 refused to grant interim stay on High Court verdict, derailing the plan of Srinivasan to return as chief of BCCI. He had stepped aside from discharging his duties as BCCI President in the light of spot fixing and betting scandal which allegedly involved his son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings team's former principal Gurunath Meiyappan.

The high court order had come on July 30 just two days after the panel, comprising two former judges of the Madras High Court Justices T Jayarama Chouta and R Balasubramanian, submitted its report giving a clean chit to all those against whom the probe was conducted.

The panel had gone into the charges against India Cements Ltd, owners of IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, Meiyappan, son-in-law of BCCI's President-in-exile N Srinivasan and Raj Kundra, co-owner of Rajasthan Royals. The panel was set up by BCCI and IPL Governing Council after surfacing of the betting and fixing scandal.

In a blow to BCCI and its president-in-exile Srinivasan, the High Court in its July 30 order held that the two-member panel was constituted in violation of the rules framed by the BCCI. "The (probe) Commission was not duly constituted and was contrary to and in violation of the provisions of Rules 2.2 and 3 of Section 6 of the Operational Rules (of BCCI)," the High Court had said and also rejected Srinivisan's plea for a stay on its order to enable him move a higher court in appeal.