Am I Still Interim BCCI President? Sunil Gavaskar Asks Supreme Court to Clarify Position
Sunil Gavaskar was appointed BCCI's interim president when the Supreme Court barred N. Srinivasan from officiating as Board chief in the wake of the IPL match-fixing and betting scandal.
Sunil Gavaskar has written to the Supreme Court wanting to know his current status, vis-a-vis his appointment as the interim BCCI president (Indian Premier League affairs). In March this year, Gavaskar was asked by the Supreme Court to handle IPL matters after N. Srinivasan was barred from discharging his duties as BCCI president.
The Supreme Court felt Srinivasan's role as BCCI president was untenable because his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was indicted by a court-appointed inquiry committee for betting and sharing team information during IPL 2013. Meiyappan was a team official of Chennai Super Kings, a team owned by India Cements. Srinivasan is the Managing Director of India Cements.
Gavaskar's letter and other matters related to the IPL corruption case was listed in the Chief Justice's court on Friday. The case was adjourned after Justice Rohinton Nariman, part of a three-judge bench, recused from hearing Cricket Association of Bihar's plea against Srinivasan. Justice Nariman recused because he had represented Srinivasan in this case earlier.
The Bihar body is appealing against Srinivasan's appointment as ICC chairman. In its petition, the CAB said that Srinivasan, who is also being investigated in the IPL corruption case, can't represent BCCI on ethical grounds.
After the court asked Srinivasan to step down in March, Gavaskar and Shivlal Yadav were appointed by the judges to run the Board. Gavaskar was asked to handle IPL affairs till investigations were completed. Former Indian spinner was told to handle non-IPL jobs. With a fresh probe report expected only in August-end, Gavaskar has thus sought a clarification on his status.
"The first order, given at the end of March, was pretty clear that I would be the BCCI interim president, IPL, till the end of the tournament. In the middle of May the court said Shivlal and I would continue till further orders. So it is just that little bit of confusion," Gavaskar told ESPNCricinfo in Nottingham. "I wanted an update from the court on whether I am still the temporary BCCI president, IPL, because the Champions League T20 starts soon," Gavaskar said.
Gavaskar is a highly respected commentator and is a regular on TV. While appointing him as stand-in chief, the court had directed Gavaskar to refrain from media assignments. The court also ordered the BCCI to compensate the former Test opener.
With India currently playing England in what is expected to be a tantalizing Test series, Gavaskar must be itching to do enter the TV commentary box. Hence his letter to Supreme Court was expected sooner than later.