The Supreme Court today said N Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan’s role in the IPL betting and spot-fixing scandal seemed like “insider trading” and agreed to hear a plea for making public the names of cricketers mentioned in the Mudgal Committee report.
“If Meiyappan was leaking information and someone else was putting [a] bet then it is like insider trading,” a Bench of justices TS Thakur and FMI Kalifulla said when it was submitted that Srinivasan’s son-in-law was a part of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and was always with team members at all times whether it was in the dug-out or formulating team strategy.
Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB), on whose plea the court had ordered a probe in the IPL-6 betting and spot fixing scandal, said the stand taken by Srinivasan and India Cements that Meiyappan was just a cricket enthusiast was an excuse to cover up for him and the IPL franchise in the scam.
The Bench also asked why the second report of the Mudgal Committee was silent on the alleged cover up by the CSK owner India Cements and Srinivasan, which was stated in its first report. In the two-hour long proceedings, the CAB pleaded that the first report should be read with the second one and the allegation of cover up was proved if the facts are kept in mind.
Salve submitted that the court should consider its earlier judgement on the CVC [Central Vigilance Commission] in which it was said that institutions’ integrity must be maintained and going by that verdict, action should be taken against Srinivasan.