Sunil Gavaskar seeks direction from Supreme Court

Former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, who was appointed interim president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to handle the affairs of Indian Premier League 2014, wrote a letter to the Supreme Court seeking an order for his future course of action in the cricket body.

It is believed that Gavaskar, who was asked to take over from scam-tainted N Srinivasan by the Supreme Court, in his letter sought court’s direction for his course of action as he was appointed by the apex court for the IPL-7 matches which ended on June 1, 2014.

He is also said to have sought a direction making his position clear post IPL so that he can resume his other cricket related activities.

The bench headed by chief justice RM Lodha on Friday, however, expressed its inability to hear Gavaskar’s letter in the IPL spot-fixing and betting case after his companion judge justice Rohington Nariman recused from hearing it.

“We can not take up the matter as my brother judge can not hear the case,” said justice Lodha.

The lawyers associated with the case told dna that justice Nariman had apparently appeared for one of the parties in the case as a lawyer before his elevation to the bench.

The court, which had received Gavaskar’s one-page letter on June 9, had earlier posted the IPL spot-fixing case for hearing sometime in September.

Under Gavaskar’s leadership, the Indian Premier League`s seventh edition had taken place successfully in Dubai and India.

Currently, Indian team is in England for five-Test series and Gavaskar, being a contracted BCCI commentator, is going to lose a hefty sum if a clarification in this regard does not come from the court.

After the IPL 2014, the BCCI senior vice president Shiv Lal Yadav has been handling the affairs of the board as per the court’s direction.

A senior BCCI official told dna, that due to absence of clarity whether Gavaskar can resume his commentary assignment with the board during the ongoing India-England series, it would be better for both the parties to get a direction.

The spot-fixing is being investogated by a committee led by justice Mukul Mudgal. The panel is now probing on the 13 personalities, including some cricketers, whose names figured in a sealed envelope submitted to the SC on February 10 by the panel.