Former Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Jaywant Lele says the internal inquiry into the spot-fixing episode of the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League was an "eyewash".
His comments came in the wake of the Bombay high court declaring that the two-man probe panel constituted by the BCCI, to look into spot-fixing and betting charges in the cash-rich Twenty20 event, was "illegal and unconstitutional".
"Bombay high court has taken a very correct decision. According to me, also this (BCCI's internal inquiry) was an eyewash. The judges appointed in the two-member committee were the people of N Srinivasan.
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"How is that on the day of the Working Committee meeting the report is submitted in the morning and in the evening the two people (N Srinivasan's son-in-law and team principal of Chennai Super Kings Gurunath Meiyappan and Rajasthan Royals' co-owner Raj Kundra) were set free? It is nothing but fraud," Lele told reporters.
"We have to wait until the proceedings in the court are finished. The result will come in due course of time," he added.
The court order came just two days after the probe panel submitted its findings on July 28, giving a clean chit to Srinivasan, Meiyappan and Kundra.
Lele said the moment Meiyappan agreed to betting in IPL matches, the franchise had no right to stay in the IPL.
"The board constitution is clear that if any close relative of the franchise owner is found in any sought of misconduct he has no right to stay. The moment Meiyappan agreed with the police that he had betted, Srinivasan's term ends," he said.
Image: S Sreesanth
Photographs: BCCI
