NEW DELHI: A panel appointed by the apex court of India over an investigation into the IPL betting scandal, has finally delivered its verdict on Tuesday. The committee headed by the Chief Justice Mr.Lodha suspended the two IPL teams, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals from participating in the cash-rich League for two years.
On the other hand, two officials of the Teams were handed a life-ban by the Supreme Court of India for participating in betting and bringing disrepute to the game. Chennai Super Kings public face Gurunath Meiyappan and Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra were barred from taking part in any sports organized by the BCCI. The convicted Gurunath Meiyappan was also the relative of the present International Cricket Council (ICC) Chairperson Mr.Srinivasan.
Betting is illegal in India, with the exception for horse racing. The Head of the committee Justice Lodha reading out the verdict in a packed news conference said, “Being the public face of the team, Mr.Meiyappan ought not to have indulged in any betting practices. He is suspended for life from being involved in any type of Cricket matches.”
“He is declared ineligible for participation in the sports of cricket as explained in the Anti-Corruption Code for a maximum period of five years under Article 2.2.1. He is suspended for life on activities as explained in Article 7.5 under level four, first offense of Article 2.4 of the Code of Conduct. He is suspended for life for being involved in any kind of matches under Section 6, rule 4.2. the above sanctions shall run concurrently and commence from the date of this order,” Justice Lodha said.
The IPL scandal broke out during the 6th IPL edition in 2013. Pace bowler Sreesanth and two other Rajasthan Royals players were arrested for allegedly fixing the game to offer a fixed number of runs per ball. Ajith Chandila and Ankith Chavan were the two other players who were involved in the betting scandal.
The paceman Sreesanth has denied any wrongdoings. However, he was banned for life by the BCCI from participating in any forms of the games organized by the BCCI.
Following the scandal, the Supreme Court of India has later appointed a committee to look after into the case. The committee injected Gurunath Meiyappan into the case after prior investigations. He was arrested by the police and was later released on bail in May,2014, the Huffingtonpost reports.
The verdict comes as a big blow to the two suspended teams. Chennai Super kings was lead by Mahindra Singh Dhoni and Rajasthan Royals by Australian all rounder Steven Smith. The fate of the IPL remains a question, as a large part of the revenue gets affected with the two teams being banned.
