Supreme Court declines Srinivasan plea to be reinstated as BCCI president

The Supreme Court has rejected N Srinivasan’s plea to be reinstated as BCCI president for non-IPL matters, saying it did not wish to interfere with the earlier order past by the court. Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan, who heard the plea, told Srinivasan’s lawyers to approach the same bench that had passed the earlier orders if he wants relief. Srinivasan has been stood down as BCCI president by the court while an investigation into allegations of corruption in the IPL are investigated by a committee led by Justice Mukul Mudgal, a retired High Court judge. The court had removed Srinivasan back in March of this year.

Yesterday, Srinivasan filed an appeal seeking modification of the apex court’s March 28 and May 16 interim orders by which he was restrained from functioning as the BCCI President and former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Shiv Lal Yadav were asked to continue as the Presidents of BCCI till September 2014 when the matter will be heard next. “Suitably modify the orders dated March 28, 2014 and May 16, 2014 passed by this Court and permit the applicant herein to function with immediate effect as the President of BCCI in so far as the non-IPL-2014 related activities are concerned,” Srinivasan said in the application. Srinivasan said he was elected as the President of the cricket body in September last in the AGM held on the orders of the apex court and if the orders are not modified immediately his one year tenure would come to an end. He said the restrictions imposed on him from discharging the functions of the President of BCCI has led to tremendous loss of goodwill for him and has become a major source of embarrassment in the eyes of the public despite his conduct as the in the post always being above board. He submitted he has a strong case on merits and is most likely to emerge unscathed from the baseless allegations levelled against him with respect to betting and spot-fixing. Srinivasan said the March 28 order restraining him from functioning as the BCCI President has been passed by the apex Court without taking into consideration that there is no material whatsoever on record to substantiate allegations of betting and or spot-fixing against him or even of non-cooperation with the probe panel constituted by this Court. The application further said none of the players against whom any wrong-doing is alleged have been restrained from participating in the IPL-2014 and it is only he who is having to face the stigma of restriction from functioning as the BCCI President despite the probe-panel itself submitting before the apex court that the allegations against him were unestablished. “The applicant most humbly submits that there is no objection from his side in the probe panel further investigating the allegations against him along with other persons. However, grave prejudice has occasioned to the applicant herein upon being restrained from discharging the functions as the President of BCCI,” it said. “The applicant, therefore, if not permitted to act and function as the President of BCCI with immediate effect at least with respect to the non-IPL-2014 related activities having no nexus with the probe would suffer irreparable harm and injury. “The unceremonious exclusion of the applicant from discharging even the remaining non-IPL, 2014 related functions is too drastic a step and is extremely harsh on the applicant who has always cooperated to the best of his abilities with the probe panel and undertakes to continue doing so in future too. Srinivasan said he has no objection to the appointment and continuation of Gavaskar in his place to act and function as the President of BCCI for IPL-2014.