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BCCI to meet before next court hearing

The BCCI will hold an emergent working committee meeting on April 20 to discuss the future course of action with regard to the Supreme Court hearing concerning corruption allegations in the IPL

Amol Karhadkar
Amol Karhadkar
17-Apr-2014
The BCCI will hold an emergent working committee meeting on April 20 to discuss the future course of action with regard to the Supreme Court hearing concerning corruption allegations in the IPL. The meeting, to be held at 3pm at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai, was convened following requests from several state associations following the Supreme Court's observations against the BCCI and its ousted president N Srinivasan on April 16.
The meeting will force some BCCI officials to change their travel plans. The top officials are in the UAE for the start of the IPL and were to return to India on April 23. It was confirmed that BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel and vice-president Shivlal Yadav, who has been given charge of all the board's affairs - apart from the IPL - during Srinivasan's absence, will attend the working committee meeting. It remains to be seen whether Sunil Gavaskar, who was included in the working committee following his appointment as the BCCI interim president, will attend the meeting.
After the court turned down Srinivasan's plea to be reinstated as the BCCI president, the board's counsel CA Sundaram said it preferred that the police continue with the probe into corruption allegations. The court, however, said it was not inclined towards a CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) probe because that would tarnish the image of the cricketers. "In the interest of cricket, we don't want to do it. But if you insist, we will give it (probe) to the CBI. We are not inclined. But if we are compelled, we will do it. We want to save cricket and reputation of cricketers. We will lay down the rules. Don't protest."
Sundaram then said that if the allegations needed to be answered, the BCCI should get copies of the depositions that MS Dhoni and Srinivasan made to the Mudgal Committee, which presented its report on alleged IPL corruption to the Supreme Court. The court responded: "Think and answer. A quick answer will cost your client a lot." This prompted a counsel representing Srinivasan to seek more time to discuss the matter. The court then adjourned the case until April 22.
After Srinivasan was replaced by Gavaskar and Yadav in accordance to Supreme Court instructions last month, some BCCI members had demanded a special general body meeting be convened to discuss the matter, but they weren't heeded. This time the board has been compelled to convene a meeting before the next court hearing.

Amol Karhadkar is a correspondent at ESPNcricinfo