NEW DELHI: In a huge setback to N Srinivasan, the Bombay high court on Tuesday termed the two-member probe panel set up to investigate the IPL spot-fixing scandal as unconstitutional and illegal.The high court has asked the BCCI to set up a new probe panel.A report submitted by the panel, consisting of two former judges of the Tamil Nadu high court, Jayaram Chouta and R Balasubramanian, found no direct evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, India Cements Ltd (owner of Chennai Super Kings) and Jaipur IPL Pvt Ltd (owner of Rajasthan Royals).
The gist of the panel’s report was shared with members of the BCCI working Committee by ‘caretaker’ board head Jagmohan Dalmiya and interim secretary Sanjay Patel at a meeting in Kolkata on Sunday.The report gave an inconclusive reference to Meiyappan’s alleged involvement in betting on IPL matches. The same could not be established because of alleged non-cooperation on the part of Mumbai Police, which had booked him for the offence, the report said.Rajasthan Royals’ co-owner Raj Kundra — who was accused of placing bets in IPL matches through his close aide (Umesh Goenka) — was also cleared by the probe panel, on the ground that Goenka had retracted his statement.