SC picks CBI’s 2G sleuth to probe IPL corruption
CSK team official Gurunath Meiyappan was in the eye of the storm.
The Supreme Court on Friday appointed Vivek Priyadarshi, CBI’s lead investigator in the 2G spectrum scam cases, as the new head of the probe panel inquiring into the 2013 IPL corruption cases.
A bench led by Justice T S Thakur issued the order after a court-mandated inquiry panel in the IPL case said that the evidence collected so far indicated that a further probe was required to ascertain the role and activities of former IPL COO Sundar Raman in the corruption case.
Raman is known to be a close confidante of former BCCI chief and current ICC chairman N Srinivasan.
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Priyadarshi is an SP with the CBI’s anti-corruption unit, and will take over the slot left vacant by the superannuation on March 31 of the previous team head B B Mishra.
The CBI officer’s name was recommended by the three-member panel, headed by former CJI Justice R M Lodha, which was appointed by Supreme Court in January to decide on action against Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra, who were found to have indulged in betting during the Twenty20 league.
The panel was also asked to recommend sweeping reforms that the BCCI needed to undergo “in larger public interest” and put in place a mechanism to resolve all situations related to conflict of interest within the board.
At the time, the apex court had also barred Srinivasan from contesting any BCCI polls until he gave up ownership of Chennai Super Kings.
On Friday, the bench clarified that Priyadarshi would be at liberty to form his own team and seek the services of police officers from the central and state governments as and when required.
The court-appointed panel, meanwhile, has sent a list of 82 questions to top BCCI officials as part of his inquiry. It also met former and current BCCI office-bearers and employees in Mumbai last week.
The 2G spectrum case, incidentally, has reached a critical stage with CBI arguing before a Special Court on Wednesday that former Telecom Minister A Raja had “misled” the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on policy matters pertaining to allocation.
Source:: Indian Express
