Decision on Kapil soon, chargesheet handed over to Muthiah

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president AC Muthiah, along with former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha were given charge sheets in the Rs 28.29 crore SPIC disinvestment case by the special judge-1 APA Adityan in Chennai on Monday.

Talking to reporters after appearing before the special court, Muthiah said the Indian Cricket Board will announce its decision on Kapil Dev in the next three days. "I will announce the decision a week before the conditioning camp (for the probables selected for the ICC Knock-out tournament at Nairobi) begins in Chennai on September 14." Muthiah was authorised by the BCCI Working Committee to talk to Kapil Dev and take a decision.

Earlier, a report from news agencies on Monday stated that former Industrial secretary P Ramachandran had also appeared before the special judge and accepted the copy. The case has been posted for hearing on September 25. The CBI in the case had charged that Jayalalitha and Ramachandran had misused their official position to favour SPIC co-promoter and former BCCI president MA Chidambaram.

A public interest litigation was filed by Janata Party president Subramaniam Swamy, challenging the then Government's decision to disinvest TIDCO's stakes in the Southern petrochemical giant SPIC in 1992. A directive was given by the then government to the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) to relinquish its entitlement in the bond issue in favour of Chidambaram and his associates.

Justice Y Venkatachalam of the Madras High Court ordered a CBI probe into the matter and directed Muthiah, Jayalalitha and late MA Chidambaram to pay Rs. 28.29 crore as compensation to the state government. Chidambaram had also been named as an accused, but charges against him would abate as he is no more. Muthiah was the company's vice-chairman at the time of the transaction.