IPL spot-fixing: SC to announce probe panel today

New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India is set to announce the Justice Mukul Mudgal-led probe panel to investigate the IPL spot-fixing scandal. The apex court of India is expected to read out the order in the open court and there will no be hearing on the case till the month of September.

The probe will focus on investigating the content mentioned in the ‘sealed envelope.’ The said envelope was submitted to the Supreme Court by the Mudgal committee along with its report. The envelope is said to be including the name of 13 individuals including the beleaguered BCCI president N. Srinivasan who were involved in the currupt activities.

Earlier, the BCCI protested on the Supreme Court's decision to urge the Mudgal Committe to further investigate the IPL-spot fixing.

A bench headed by Justice A K Patnaik said the committee will be given assistance by investigating agencies if it agrees to conduct further probe against 13 people who were named by it in a sealed envelope after it conducted initial investigation in the scandal.

The Board also informed the court that it has decided to constitute a three-member panel to further probe the scandal but the bench said it will pass the order after hearing all the parties and after considering Justice Mudgal Committee's reply.

The all-powerful working committee of the Board, in its emergent meeting on April 20, had decided to suggest the names of former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri, former Calcutta high court Chief Justice JN Patel and ex-CBI director R K Raghavan as members of the probe committee.

The bench also allowed Srinivasan and BCCI to hear some portions of Justice Mudgal Committee's interactions with Srinivasan, M S Dhoni and Chief Operating Officer of IPL 7 Sundar Raman. It asked the probe committee to provide audio recordings to the Supreme Court's Secretary General who will make arrangements for BCCI and Srinivasan's counsel to hear the tapes in the apex court.

The court asked the Board and Srinivasan to maintain complete confidentiality of the contents of the audio tapes and not to leak it to anybody. "Any content of the audio recordings going out means cricket would be blackened in the country," the bench said.

The audio recordings will be heard in the presence of Secretary General by advocate Amit Sibal on behalf of Srinivasan and advocate Rohini Musa on behalf of the Board. The apex court had on April 16 expressed reservations over a SIT or CBI probe, saying that institutional autonomy of the Board has to be maintained and a committee constituted by the BCCI to look into the issue would be preferred.

The court had said that it cannot "close its eyes" to the allegations made by its probe committee in the scandal and a probe must be conducted to clear the air as some prominent players were named in the report submitted in sealed envelop.