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Sundar Raman denies misdemeanour allegations

Sundar Raman, the IPL's chief operating officer, has filed an affidavit in India's Supreme Court in response to the Mudgal panel report and has denied allegations of misdemeanour against him

Sundar Raman: "Celebrities often call for tickets and invites to events - such bonafide interaction can't be basis of any misdemeanour on my part."  •  Getty Images

Sundar Raman: "Celebrities often call for tickets and invites to events - such bonafide interaction can't be basis of any misdemeanour on my part."  •  Getty Images

Sundar Raman, the IPL's chief operating officer, has filed an affidavit in India's Supreme Court in response to the Mudgal panel's report and has denied allegations of misdemeanour against him.
The Mudgal committee's report had stated that Raman knew "a contact of a bookie and contacted him eight times in one season", but claimed to be "unaware of his connection with betting activities". The report also said that he had received information about Chennai Super Kings' team official Gurunath Meiyappan and Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra betting, but did not act on it.
In his affidavit, Raman said he had professional integrity. He also said that one of his duties as the IPL's chief operating officer was to interact with various individuals, including celebrities and officials, and the interactions could not be the basis for a misdemeanour.
"I hold a PG degree in management and prior to working with the BCCI, I was employed by a multinational media and advertising agency," Raman said in his statement. "In all, I have 20 years of experience as a professional with high integrity. I was recruited by the BCCI in 2008 and as part of my duties, I had to interact with various officials, VIPs, bureaucrats and celebrities from all walks of life.
"Most of the interactions revolve around arranging and facilitating their attendance at matches and events connected to IPL. The Mudgal committee report doesn't specifically say that I had knowledge that the person concerned was the contact of a bookie. The person concerned was also a celeb, a movie actor and also a TV star. As IPL COO, I had to deal with celebrities as part of my job. Celebs often call for tickets and invites to events - such bonafide interaction can't be basis of any misdemeanour on my part."
Sundar Raman was one of the four key individuals - along with sidelined BCCI president N Srinivasan, Meiyappan and Kundra - named by the Supreme Court earlier this month in connection with the Mudgal panel's report of the IPL 2013 spot-fixing case, and the court observed that the report had suggested several "misdemeanours".
Despite the controversy, Raman has the backing of the BCCI after the board decided, during its working committee meeting in Chennai last week, to support his defence in front of the Supreme Court.
The next hearing of the case is on November 24.