Advocate, who appeared before the Mudgal Committee, tells MiD DAY that he suggested Chennai franchise be suspended or derecognised; urges SC to come down heavily on IPL spot-fixers
Yellow fever: Chennai Super Kings players discuss strategy during the 2012 edition of the Indian Premier League and (inset) Rahul Mehra
Having appeared before the Justice Mudgal Committee, I had suggested that the Chennai Super Kings franchise be suspended or derecognised. But I doubt it will happen, because in India, what happens is when a case becomes untenable, the small fish in the pond are the ones who are consumed while the sharks somehow manage to go scot-free.
Yellow fever: Chennai Super Kings players discuss strategy during the 2012 edition of the Indian Premier League and (inset) Rahul Mehra
I am certain about the fact that CSK must be disbanded. There is no question about it. But if I know the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) even a little bit — and I have known them for years — then they will show that Gurunath Meiyappan was not the Team Principal. They will show he was not in a position in the team management, and this-or-that particular clause does not apply to him.
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Supreme power
I believe, the day the Supreme Court uses its powers in the right perspective, the sanity and sanctity of Indian cricket will be restored. Till the time the apex court does not come down heavily, nothing will happen. Every sports association wants autonomy, but autonomy should be given to them only when there is complete accountability on their part.
However, the larger question to be asked in this particular case is: Who introduced Mr Meiyappan, who was a non-entity till recently, to Indian sport?
Father-in-law's fault
He was planted as a team owner and Team Principal by his father-in-law, Mr N Srinivasan, who is the 'king of conflicts of interest' and keeps on claiming that 'I am distancing myself from so-and-so and anybody who is caught in illegal activities'.
Can Mr Srinivasan distance himself from Meiyappan by saying that he is not his son-in-law and he doesn't have access to him? Or that he doesn't have access to the environment he lives in? Or he doesn't have access to the kind of decision-making that he is privy to? Or that he doesn't have access to the players that Srinivasan has access to? Or the kind of information he has access to?
Or the kind of power he has access to? Let me make it clear: Meiyappan is not the only one who has been indulging in all this. There are people all across the Indian Premier League — be it batsmen, bowlers, umpires, team managers, team principals and owners — each one of them have been guilty and many of them have found their hands in the till and have been engaging in illegal activities, and we have seen that over the last few years.
Indians aren't fools
Coming back to the Meiyappan case, I would say, let's stop making fools of Indians. I think his position is untenable. Plus, on the whole, please remember we are dealing with thick-skinned people here. They have the hide of a rhinoceros. They know that nothing can stop them, nothing can make them introspect.
These are people who will come on television, laugh it over, make nonsensical statements, and flaunt their power. All sorts of statements will be made by them with little effect.
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