SC to hear CAB plea seeking handing over 13 names to Lodha panel tomorrow

SC to hear CAB plea seeking handing over 13 names to Lodha panel tomorrow: The Supreme Court (SC) of India today agreed to hear a plea by the Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) seeking handing over the Justice Mudgal report containing names of 13 players to the Lodha Committee for further inquiry. This matter will be heard on Friday in the apex court after a petition was filed on Monday by Aditya Verma, secretary of the unrecognized CAB.

Verma has been at the forefront of the battle against the BCCI in the IPL spot fixing saga right from the day the scandal broke out in 2013. It was on his PIL on conflict of interest issues that the highest court of the country eventually decided to take note and ordered the then BCCI president N Srinivasan to step down from his post. The 13 players in question are believed to have been involved in the 2013 IPL betting and spot-fixing scandal. The BCCI had earlier pleaded with the apex court to not make the list public in the hope to prevent damage to the reputation of these cricketers.

The sealed envelope referred to by the CAB was the one handed over to the Supreme Court by the Mudgal committee in February 2014, which contained the names of 13 individuals and allegations of sporting fraud against them. Four of those individuals, including former BCCI president N Srinivasan, have been named by the court; the envelope was to be opened and its contents were to be read by only the judges who had ordered the independent Mudgal probe. The panel had stated that the information was sensitive and it would not be “proper to cast aspersions on the persons named unless investigations are conducted”.

The Mudgal committee was asked by the court in May 2014 to continue his probe into the 13 individuals named in the envelope, and was given greater investigative powers. Its final report was submitted in November 2014. The Lodha panel, which was formed to decide the quantum of punishment for Gurunath, Kundra and their respective franchises, had announced its verdict last month. While Gurunath and Kundra were banned for life from having any involvement with cricket or the BCCI, the owners of the Super Kings and Royals franchises – India Cements and Jaipur IPL Pvt Ltd – were suspended for two years.