Srinivasan's fatal lie: His issues begin and end with Meiyappan

Lying, many have argued, is an elementary means of self-defence. It starts when we are young – the teacher catches you doing something wrong and you turn around and say that you alone are not responsible. You look to share the blame. You drop a few names. You look for an escape route. No one teaches you (or the majority) to lie. But it is something we just pick up because it is natural, an evolutionary adaptive trait without which we just wouldn’t survive the great race. But in some cases, when given time to reflect on our lies, we wish we could take our back words and set things right. It has happened to all of us at some point. And it is no doubt happening to Narayanswamy Srinivasan as well. He may not tell us but there are probably things he wished he had done differently. When the IPL scandal broke out, Srinivasan first went underground for a few days – he holed up in Kodai Kanal, contemplating his next move. His son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan had courted trouble by allegedly betting on matches in the Indian Premier League and the onus was on Srinivasan to work a way out for the tournament. [caption id=“attachment_1263401” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Srinivasan had earlier said that the probe report would be final and binding. Getty Images[/caption] Instead, he chose to try and work a way out for Meiyappan. And that is when it began. In a press conference in May 2013, he suspended Meiyappan and announced a three-member committee to look into the affair. He also said the now immortal words: “He (Gurunath) did not have any role. He never visited the CSK office. But he would go (to the matches). He is very enthusiastic.” It is a lie that has come back to hurt him time and again. If at that moment, in a rare admission of guilt, Srinivasan had owned up and acknowledged his mistake, perhaps things would not have got this bad. If he had banned Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra then and slapped a big fine on Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, he would have earned the respect and trust of all those who follow the game. Instead, he chose to try and work a way out for Meiyappan. Family comes before sport, it seems. Then again, in July – the BCCI probe almost miraculously cleared Kundra and Gurunath Meiyappan of all allegations in IPL spot-fixing including betting. The panel, which comprised of two former High Court judges, cleared Meiyappan’s name reportedly after the Mumbai Police refused to depose without court orders. It was convenient. Srinivasan had earlier said that the probe report would be final and binding. So that was that or so he thought. But little did he realise that from this point on, it would only get worse. The Bombay High Court dismissed the findings of the BCCI-appointed probe panel on hearing the Public Interest Litigation filed by Aditya Verma - Secretary of Cricket Association of Bihar. The High Court also found the panel ‘illegal and unconstitutional’ as the probe mandated the need of at least a 3-member panel according to IPL’s operational rule 2.2. The BCCI (read Srinivasan) responded by moving the Supreme Court on August 7th, challenging Bombay High Court’s order. Then it started to fall apart. The Supreme Court rejected BCCI’s suggestion for setting up a special committee to probe the IPL spot-fixing scandal and proposed a three-member panel headed by former Punjab and Haryana Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal to examine the issue. That brings us to the current impasse. Srinivasan continues to tell us there is nothing wrong with the sport or him; that there is no conflict of interest; that he acted with speed in the Meiyappan case; that he consulted Sharad Pawar before buying into the IPL idea but will he ever tell us why he lied in the first place? Will he ever tell us he regrets it? Will he ever own up? It’s probably too late to matter now. The damage has been done. Some in the BCCI may still want him to stay but his credibility in the eyes of the public has been tarnished forever. As the case drags on and on – we are discovering new facets of Srinivasan’s personality and almost all of them seem as twisted as the first lie – the one to doom them all.