Gurunath Meiyappan, a top official of the Chennai Super Kings franchise
and son-in-law of the BCCI president N Srinivasan, has been formally
arrested by Mumbai Police on charges of cheating, forgery and fraud. The
development, late on Friday night, is the most serious setback to the
IPL in its six-year history and has serious implications for the BCCI as
well given the names involved.
As of early Saturday morning there was no news of an emergency BCCI
meeting but it is expected that events will move fast through the day,
to discuss the issue of leadership - though Srinivasan insisted he would
not step down - and also Chennai Super Kings' participation in the IPL
final on Sunday.
Gurunath had been summoned to Mumbai for questioning over betting and links to bookies and flew in on Friday evening.
"We have interrogated Mr Gurunath after he arrived here at the crime
branch headquarters," Himanshu Roy, the joint commissioner of Mumbai
Police, said. "We have gone through questioning with him in detail and
after due deliberation, we have arrived at the conclusion there is
evidence of involvement in offence we are investigating and therefore he
has been placed under arrest. He will be produced in court within 24
hours as per law."
Reports suggest Gurunath's interrogation in Mumbai will continue through
Friday night, and he will also be confronted with Virender "Vindoo"
Dara Singh, the actor arrested earlier this week for alleged contact
with bookies. Police investigations suggested that Vindoo and Gurunath
were in frequent telephonic contact. Vindoo was also seen in the CSK box
at IPL matches.
Gurunath's lawyer PS Raman said: "We are exploring all legal
possibilities. We are waiting for the remand report before reading the
charges against him."
Srinivasan had not commented in public since the reports first emerged
on Wednesday that his son-in-law was linked to the IPL scandal, but
after the arrest he maintained he would not resign as BCCI president. "I
have done nothing wrong," he told NDTV. "I am not resigning, the board
is largely supportive of me."
Gurunath's connection to Super Kings was the subject of dispute
through the day. He was the public face of the franchise, his Twitter
handle said he was the "team principal", he was seen as Super Kings'
representative at auctions and at IPL owners' meetings. Yet on Friday
evening India Cements, the owners of the franchise and of which
Srinivasan is the managing director, said Gurunath was only an honorary
member of the team management.
The implications of Gurunath's arrest involve both Super Kings, who have
qualified for the final to be played on May 26, and Srinivasan.
His arrest brings into question Super Kings' participation in the final -
under IPL rules, the BCCI-IPL can terminate a franchise agreement "with
immediate effect if: c) The Franchise, any Franchise Group Company and/
or any owner acts in any way which has a material adverse effect upon
the reputation or standing of the League, BCCI-IPL, BCCI, the Franchise,
the team (or any other team in the League) and/ or the game of
cricket."
More importantly, and with wider implication, Srinivasan's position
within the BCCI is likely to be under serious threat - not only because
Meiyappan happens to be his son-in-law but because Srinivasan heads
India Cements, who are owners of the Super Kings. The conflict of
interest that arises from Srinivasan's dual position as BCCI president
and de facto owner of an IPL franchise now has a serious immediate
implication: he will, as board president, have to oversee any
disciplinary action against either Gurunath or the franchise.
An IPL insider clarified that Meiyappan's change of designation was not
likely to have any impact on the action that needs to be taken. "The
moment you're a team management member, irrespective of the designation,
the Anti-Corruption code applies to you. And nobody can deny the fact
that he is a part of the ownership group and team management."
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