BCCI should restore public trust: Sports Minister Jitendra Singh

With the Cricket Board's image taking a beating in the wake of Bombay High Court declaring its IPL spot-fixing probe "illegal and unconstitutional", Sports Minister Jitendra Singh on Friday advised the BCCI to work towards "restoring the trust" of the fans.

"I want to say that BCCI must make sure that it restores the trust of the public because it is the people who have made cricket what it is today," Jitendra Singh.

N Srinivasan's bid to return as BCCI president was thwarted with the under-fire Board deciding to call off its Working Committee meeting fearing legal trouble after the Bombay HC's order.

The minister also reiterated the need for the proposed Sports Development Bill to be passed and become a law of the land so that the National Sports Federations like the BCCI can come under the ambit of RTI and become more accountable and transparent in their functioning.

"I have already made it clear that we (the Government) can only give suggestions to the BCCI but we don't have any control over it till the time the bill (Sports Development Bill) is passed," said Jitendra Singh.

"The Government has no power to curb the BCCI but I would like to tell the BCCI that it must wait for the police probe to get over (before reinstating N Srinivasan as the president of the BCCI)," he added.

A couple of days back the BCCI probe panel, comprising two former high court judges appointed to enquire into the roles of Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, who was the team principal of Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals and its co-owner Raj Kundra, had given a clean chit to both the franchises and their owners.

The internal panel's verdict cleared the way for Srinivasan to make a comeback as BCCI chief before the Bombay High Court put a spanner on the move.