IPL probe panel to meet on Friday

The two judges who comprise the panel appointed by the BCCI to inquire into the complaints against Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra, and the owners of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, will meet in person for the first time in Bangalore on Friday. Nearly a month after they were appointed, Justice T Jayaram Chouta and R Balasubramanian will discuss with Ratnakar Shetty, BCCI's general manager of game development, the working of the probe.

The judges are likely to specify their requirements to the BCCI during what Chouta, the chairman of the commission, called a "preliminary" meeting. If they feel they require office space and administrative staff in Bangalore - Chouta's hometown - it will be provided.

"The panel will discuss its preferred mode of operation," Shetty told ESPNcricinfo. "It will be provided with all the operational and administrative assistance."

Shetty, along with members of the BCCI's legal team, had met Chouta at his residence on June 15 and handed over the necessary documents to begin the process. Since the BCCI had not set a deadline for the panel to submit its findings, it remains to be seen if the judges try and make up for the time lost due to BCCI's administrative unrest.

Following the arrests of three Rajasthan Royals cricketers and that of Meiyappan, a Super Kings management member and BCCI president N Srinivasan's son-in-law, the following week, the board had announced on May 28 that a three-member commission would conduct the internal inquiry against both the teams and Meiyappan.

However, following Sanjay Jagdale's resignation from the panel and as BCCI secretary, it was reconstituted on June 10. Since Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra had allegedly admitted to his involvement in betting on his team's matches to Delhi Police, the panel was also asked to look into the complaint filed against him.

Chouta had retired after serving as a judge of the Karnataka and Madras High Court. Balasubramanian was a judge at the Madras High Court from 1996 to 2007. After his retirement, he has been practising in the Supreme Court.