Mudgal report as it happened: Supreme Court adjourns hearing to 14 November

The Supreme Court will give its observations around 1400 hrs IST. 3:10 pm: Covering up of corruption is also corruption Aditya Verma, the secretary of the Cricket Association of Bihar and the petitioner in the case, has told the press that it has already been proved in the Mudgal Committee’s first report that Srinivasan attempted to cover up the fact that Meiyappan was running CSK. That by itself should disqualify him from standing for BCCI president again. Verma also said he has no objections to the report being made public if the Court thinks it should be. 3:00 pm: Supreme Court adjourns hearing until 14 November This was coming. If they haven’t read the report, they could hardly hear arguments or pass order. We now have to wait until the end of the week. 2.50 pm: Committee submits multiple reports Raju Ramchandran,i a lawyer for committee, told the court the sealed envelope has a 30-page report wherein individuals are not named but codes are used. Apart from that there is an investigative report filed separately containing testimony. The Mudgal report carrying concluding is filed separately as well. The individuals have not been named and the number key has been given to the court separately. 2:40 pm: Supreme Court has not seen the report Apparently the judges have told both sides they have not yet gone through the report. What this means is unclear at this point. It could mean the hearing is postponed to a later day, which then raises questions about the BCCI’s AGM currently scheduled for 20 November. Unsurprisingly, Amit Verma, the petitioner, has called for the report to be made public. Again, unsurprisingly, the BCCI has asked the Court to allow Srinivasan to stand for reelection if there is nothing against him. It also doesn’t want the report to be made public. 2:00 pm: How deep will the Mudgal report go? A number of unnamed players were being investigated for links to fixing. Will their names be revealed? According to news reports, the Mudgal committee has number-coded the names in their report and only the judges have been the code. That seems like something top secret government documents would contain, not a report about corruption in a sport. There is also the question of MS Dhoni’s evidence to the Mudgal committee. Dhoni told the committee that Gurunath Meiyappan was just an enthusiast and had nothing to do with CSK. Will the report have anything damning to say about the India captain? 1:40 pm: Repercussions for Rajasthan Royals In the brouhaha over Srinivasan and Meiyappan, the case of Raj Kundra has flown under the radar. Kundra is also under investigation for betting, and potentially match-fixing, in the IPL. If Kundra is found guilty of betting, the BCCI could well throw the IPL book at Rajasthan Royals and dissolve the franchise. The board has tried to get rid of RR before because Lalit Modi is allegedly a benami owner, but failed. Depending on the findings of the Mudgal Committee, they could get another shot. The flip side of the coin is if the Court agrees that Meiyappan was an owner of Chennai Super Kings. In which case, the board will find it harder to implement selective justice. 10:00 am: What the Justice Mudgal report on IPL may say Will the Supreme Court expected to open the Justice Mukul Mudgal report on the scandals of the Indian Premier League the results are expected to be wide ranging and expected to impact personalities like ICC chief N Srinivasan, his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan and cricketers like S Sreesanth who were arrested on charges of match fixing. On 3 November, the Supreme Court appointed probe commission headed by (Retd) Justice Mukul Mudgal submitted its final report to the apex court on the IPL-6 betting and spot-fixing scandal. The report was submitted in a sealed envelope and the next hearing in the case will be on 10 November. S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were three prominent IPL cricketers arrested on allegations of spot-fixing while former CSK ‘Team Principal’ Gurunath Meiyappan and Bollywood actor Vindoo Dara Singh were behind the bars on allegations of betting during the sixth edition of the cash-rich league. [caption id=“attachment_1795511” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP image[/caption] While the report was submitted in a sealed envelope to the Supreme Court, there has been speculation on what its findings are. A DNA report cited highly placed sources as saying that call details show that Vindoo Dara Singh — who claimed that he came to know a top cricketer’s wife and agent — was in fact in touch with both of them long before the tournament began. Another report published in Daily Mail on October 25, a forensic laboratory reportedly confirmed that conversations tapped by the Mumbai Police in connection with betting on IPL matches are not doctored. The Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore match which took place on 12 May 2013 has also come under the spotlight in the Mudgal committee report — after it was found that a known bookie was staying at the same hotel as the players in Ranchi. Gurunath Meiyappan’s role in the scandal also seems to have grown — the report allegedly says that he used fake documents to procure a SIM card which he used to make around 200 calls to Vindoo and Vikram Aggarwal (aka Victor) in a span of three days. These calls particularly spiked during Chennai Super Kings matches. In fact, Vindoo admitted to a news channel on Monday that he and Gurunath made bets but did not fix: “We’ve not done any fixing. I met Mudgal Committee and told them everything. I am ready for any lie detector test. Yes, I was betting and so was Gurunath Meiyappan. But understand one thing, not a single rupee exchanged hands. I love betting and I have said that we have bet. But try and understand that we lost bets on Chennai Super Kings matches.”