IPL Governing Council names 3-member enquiry committee to probe spot-fixing allegations

The Indian Premier League Governing Council appointed a three-member commission of inquiry on Tuesday (May 28) that will look into the charges against M Gurunath, formerly Team Principal of Chennai Super Kings, as well as the three Rajasthan Royals cricketers who have been arrested for alleged spot-fixing.

N Srinivasan, the BCCI president, had earlier said that the panel would include two BCCI officials and one independent member, but in a statement released by Sanjay Jagdale, the BCCI secretary, it was confirmed that two of the three members would be from outside the BCCI.

The two are Justice T Jayaram Chouta, former judge of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu High Courts, and Justice R Balasubramanian, former judge of Tamil Nadu High Court. Jagdale will be the third member of the commission.

The commission will inquire "into the complaints of the BCCI against the following persons/entities: Mr Gurunath Meiyappan, India Cements Ltd., the owner of the Chennai Super Kings franchise, and Jaipur IPL Pvt. Ltd., the owner of the Rajasthan Royals franchise," said Jagdale. "The Commission will be initiating the adjudication proceedings at the earliest."

The scope of the inquiry would include the roles played by S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, the three Rajasthan cricketers who were arrested by Delhi Police in Mumbai on May 16 on charges of spot-fixing in games during the Pepsi Indian Premier League 2013. That aside, the commission will probe the implications of Gurunath allegedly betting on IPL matches despite being part of the management of an IPL team.

Earlier, the BCCI had formed a one-man probe committee with Ravi Sawani, the Anti-Corruption Unit chief of the BCCI, to look into the conduct of the three Rajasthan players, who are all under judicial custody following a remand ordered by a Delhi court on Tuesday.