‘ Reveal names in sealed cover to Lodha panel’

The Supreme Court said on Monday that it would examine Cricket Association of Bihar’s (CAB) fresh plea to place the Justice Mukul Mudgal report on betting and spot-fixing before the Justice RM Lodha Committee, which is to give a detailed report on how to make the BCCI transparent and accountable.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu did not pass a directive on the application, but said it should be “tagged” along with the main petition on the matter, pending before a Bench headed by Justice TS Thakur.

In accordance with the SC direction, the Justice Lodha panel suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royal for two years and imposed a life ban on Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra for their involvement in betting.

However, the CAB, through senior counsel Nalini Chidambaram, urged the SC to direct its registry to place Justice Mudgal’s report before the Lodha panel.

Constituted pursuant to SC directions on October 8, 2013, the Justice Mudgal panel had in November 2014 submitted interim reports for further investigation against Meiyappan, Kundra, Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals and 13 others, including N Srinivasan, on betting allegations.

It was submitted to a Bench then headed by Justice AK Patnaik. When he retired, a new Bench led by Justice Thakur heard the matter at length and appointed the Justice Lodha Committee to impose the requisite punishment against the two franchises.

According to the Mudgal Committee, the allegations in the report, submitted in a sealed cover, required verification and investigation.

“This is necessary since the Justice Lodha Committee has to have the benefit of the full text of the Justice Mudgal Committee report to appreciate the extent of the malaise which has set in the game of cricket so that while suggesting the administrative reforms for BCCI it can suggest measures to ensure that in future the reputation of the game of cricket will not be sullied by any scam,” read CAB’s fresh application.

It further said, “It is therefore imperative that the full text of the 3rd report of the Justice Mudgal Committee and the sealed cover is made available to the Justice Lodha Committee so that while suggesting administrative reforms for BCCI the Justice Lodha Committee will have the benefit of having read the full text of the 3rd report and the sealed cover.”

A BENCH HEADED BY CHIEF JUSTICE HL DATTU SAID THE APPLICATION SHOULD BE “TAGGED” ALONG WITH THE MAIN PETITION ON THE MATTER, PENDING BEFORE A BENCH HEADED BY JUSTICE TS THAKUR