BCCI to form panel to study Lodha Committee ruling

Mumbai, The Governing Council (GC) of the Indian Premier League (IPL) here on Sunday decided to abide by the Lodha Committee verdict and will constitute a panel to study the order suspending two franchises and banning two team officials.

The Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee on July 14 suspended Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals for two years from the IPL in the spot fixing and betting scandal that rocked the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament in 2013.

Former CSK team official Gurunath Meiyappan and Royals co-owner Raj Kundra, both of whom were earlier found guilty of betting, were banned for life from any cricketing activity.

"BCCI respects the verdict of the Lodha Commission and will abide by their decisions, in toto. The members recognised that there is an urgent need to understand the impact of this decision and the wider ramifications for BCCI in detail, so as to uphold the paramountcy of the game in our country," BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said.

Meiyappan is the son-in-law of former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president and current International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman N. Srinivasan. Kundra, an Indian-origin British businessman married to Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, owned 11.74 percent of shares in Royals before he gave them away in March earlier this year.

"The IPL GC hence authorised the chairman, Shri Rajeev Shukla, to constitute a working group which will study this verdict, in consultation with all our key advisors and explore all the possible measures to be adopted, with an objective to protect the interests of all the stakeholders involved," Thakur said in a statement.

This group will submit within six weeks a report on its findings and recommendations to the GC which will then deliberate and share their views with the working committee of the BCCI for further action.

The Supreme Court-appointed Justice Mukul Mudgal panel to probe the 2013 IPL spot fixing and betting scandal had found Meiyappan and Kundra guilty of betting in its report submitted on November 17, 2014.

The apex court on January 22 set up the Lodha Committee comprising former chief justice of India R.M. Lodha (retired), Justice Ashok Bhan (retired) and Justice R. Raveendran (retired) to determine the quantum of punishment for Meiyappan, Kundra and their respective franchises.

(IANS)