This is the tip of the iceberg, let the IPL probe continue: Lalit Modi to NDTV

Former Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi has voiced his anger against Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president N Srinivasan and asked him to resign from his post to honour a moral responsibility, after his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was indicted by the Supreme Court-instituted Justice Mudgal committee report for direct involvement in an IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal that rocked the sport last year.

The Mudgal report had expressed concern over a conflict of interest on Srinivasan holding both BCCI chief post and ownership of an IPL franchise together and mentioned that it was a serious issue, which needed to be taken into consideration by the court. (Time to bury N Srinivasan's India Cements: Modi)

In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Modi said that it was very convenient to put the whole blame on the son-in-law in the case of Srinivasan but there was more to this story. "It is a moral responsibility for Mr Srinivasan to step down as BCCI chief. Srinivasan is directly involved in match-fixing, I have said it from day one. It is very convenient to put the blame on the son-in-law, the buck stops at Srinivasan," Lalit Modi told NDTV. (Highlights)

Earlier on Monday, Modi, while adding a two-minute video on Srinivasan, had expressed through a series of posts on micro-blogging site Twitter that he was happy to hear the results of the report and wanted to read more of it to confirm his stance on whether the Chennai Super Kings franchise needed to be annulled from the cash-rich T20 league. "I am waiting to get a copy of the report before commenting. But if CSK owners are caught betting and fixing, the team needs to be annulled as per rules," the sacked IPL chief had tweeted. According to clause 11.3 of the IPL franchise rules, CSK face immediate termination.

Modi even went ahead to say that everyone supporting BCCI chief Srinivasan should be sacked and that the future ICC chief has been hampering investigations into this matter. "No player will say anything against Srinivasan as they have been muted. BCCI doesn't operate without the knowledge of Srinivasan, he is hampering investigations," he said. (Probe judge's London visit was secretly surveyed: Modi)

While accusing Srinivasan, Modi also played it safe in saying that it was just the tip of the iceberg as far as the matter was concerned and that he did not want to assume anything to affect the investigation process. "This is just the tip of the iceberg, let the probe go on and I don't want to pre-empt anything to dilute the investigation. I agree with Justice Mudgal that people should go to jail for fixing, but for that we need stringent laws. The IPL governing council should be disbanded. Let us have an independent organisation that runs the IPL like National Football League (NFL) in the USA," he said.

Modi is eyeing the Rajasthan Cricket Association president's post for a second time. The BCCI is opposing Modi's return and has challenged a controversial Sports Act that allowed Modi to contest the RCA elections in December last year.