With another ineffectual panel report,one in a long series of lame inquiries instituted by the BCCI,the Indian cricket board has let go of another chance to clean its stables.
From being in a position where his ouster seemed imminent three months ago,after the arrest of his son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings top official Gurunath Meiyappan for his alleged involvement in IPL betting,N Srinivasan is now only a matter of days away from taking back control of the BCCI.
The mode of functioning of the probe has raised serious doubts. The commission was mandated to inquire into the roles of Meiyappan and Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra but were they ever summoned for deposition? If so,when and where did the hearings take place?
The police probe into the incident is still on,arrests were made as recently as a week back,Meiyappan is out only on bail and the charesheet for the case is expected to be filed next month. The probe still felt it had complete evidence to declare the innocence of the accused. The report mentions the lack of evidence against Meiyappan and Kundra in the case. Then on what basis did police arrest the former and interrogated the latter?
By Jagmohan Dalmiyas own admission,he knew nothing about the report till Sunday morning,when it was submitted to the BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel. The probe report surely has raised more questions than it has answered.
Shamik is a principal correspondent based in Kolkata
shamik.chakrabarty@expressindia.com
