Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, appointed by the Delhi government as the one-man commission to probe the alleged irregularities in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), wrote to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Monday and said the proceedings of the commission should be televised. In a five-page letter to Kejriwal Sunday, Subramanium accepted the assignment of the commission of inquiry and wrote that he had already promised a “public inquiry that should be held in a suitable place”. “I offer it to be televised because I would like anybody in the world to watch how the commission is proceeding to deal with this matter. I have always believed that in many parts of the world where proceedings of courts have been televised, particularly in Britain and also in Canada, the judiciary has only stood to gain by being utterly transparent. I do not see why a matter which involves cricket, and which has long-term implications, must not be dealt with in the same fashion,” he wrote. The inquiry commission to probe the the irregularities in the DDCA has been at the heart of a new political battle between the BJP and the AAP. While sources in Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung’s office said the commission has not yet received his approval, Subramanium wrote that he has been informed that both the Cabinet committee of the Delhi government and the legislative assembly have approved the appointment. “I also learn that both the minutes of the Cabinet meeting, as well as the proceedings of the legislature, have been forwarded to the Lt-Governor in accordance with the Rules of Business. He must have initiated his perusal of them. The receipt of information both from the Cabinet and allowing the legislature to proceed forward clearly indicates that the Lt-Governor, prima facie, has consented to the appointment of the commission,” Subramanium wrote. He, however, refrained from commenting on the correctness or otherwise of media reports stating that Jung does not consider the constitution of the commission proper because Delhi is not a state but a union territory. Sources from the Lt-Governor’s secretariat, however, said Subramanium’s letter suggests that Jung has approved the constitution of the commission, which was not the case. “Subramanium has already said in public that he will not go ahead with the commission of inquiry without Jung’s approval but his letter seems to imply otherwise. He seems to have gone back on his word,” said a source. In the concluding paragraph of his letter, Subramanium wrote, “I also wish to assure that I am keeping a completely open mind. I have no bias of any kind against the DDCA or its officers or anyone. I shall investigate the facts to the best of my ability.”
