BCCI backs Srinivasan and Sundar Raman

The BCCI has said allegations against its sidelined president N Srinivasan, who is also the ICC chairman, are baseless and has given him a clean chit in the IPL corruption case after its working committee reviewed the Mudgal report at a meeting in Chennai.

It also decided to not take any action against IPL chief operating officer Sundar Raman, whom the Supreme Court-appointed Mudgal committee had found to "know a contact of a bookie and contacting him eight times in a season" and not taking any action on information he had received about betting by two IPL team owners.

The working committee also postponed the BCCI's Annual General Meeting, for the second time, to December 17. It will now be held two-and-a-half months later than it is customarily held each year.

"The Members noted the conclusions in the final report of the Mudgal committee," the BCCI said, "and felt that there is no taint on the conduct of Mr. N. Srinivasan and the allegations levelled against him by unscrupulous elements were baseless and were aimed at destabilising the working of the BCCI."

The release was similarly forthright in expressing the BCCI's support of Raman. "Mr. Sundar Raman gave his explanation relating to his role with reference to the conclusions relating to him in the report of the Mudgal committee. The Members heard his explanation and decided that the Board should support Mr Sundar Raman to represent himself before the Supreme Court."

On November 24, Raman will have to respond to the Mudgal report charges in the Supreme Court.

Last week, the Supreme Court of India named four key individuals connected with Indian cricket, including Srinivasan, and Raman, in connection with the Mudgal report into the 2013 IPL spot-fixing case. The report found Srinivasan not guilty of either betting or fixing, or of having tried to prevent the investigation into the IPL 2013 corruption scandal. However, the report stated that Srinivasan, along with four other BCCI officials, knew about an IPL player violating the code of conduct, but took no action.