Guru stays mum before Mudgal probe committee

Hyderabad: The Justice Mudgal Committee which has been conducting a series of interviews regarding the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal met BCCI president N. Srinivasan and his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan here on Thursday .

According to reports, the former Chennai Super Kings “Team Principal“ Gurunath handed over a letter to the committee, exercising his right to remain silent. A criminal case is being heard against Gurunath in the Bombay High Court.

Sources suggest that Gurunath's silence could go against him.

“His meeting with the probe committee lasted merely five minutes and the advice given to him by his Chennai-based lawyer, who was also present, may well go against him,” said a source close to the judic-ial process. “He had a chance to get his name cleared by giving his version, but he didn’t,” the source added.

The committee will also meet T.S. Raghupathy, the executive president of Chennai Super Kings, R.K.

Raghavan, former director of CBI, S. Ravi, international umpire, and Ravi Sawani of BCCI Anti Corruption Unit in the next few days.

So far, the three-man committee has questioned a number of people, including the three Rajasthan Royals players — S.

Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Sidhharth Trivedi, while they have also met with the officials of Delhi and Mumbai police.

The probe committee’s brief covers the corruption charges against Meiyappan, CSK team owners India Cements, and Rajasthan Royals team owners Jaipur IPL Cricket Private Ltd, as well as a larger mandate of probing allegations of betting and spot fixing on IPL matches and the involvement of players.