Srinivasan takes Thakur to court on perjury charges

ICC chairman N Srinivasan has submitted a plea to the Supreme Court seeking prosecution of BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur on charges of perjury over a "false affidavit" and "plethora of misleading statements" in court.

Srinivasan's allegations referred to Thakur's affidavit that was part of the BCCI's application to the Supreme Court on September 11 seeking a clarification on whether Srinivasan could be allowed to attend its meetings.

In its affidavit, the BCCI had alleged "the conflict of interest of Mr. N Srinivasan continues", referring to the presence of Srinivasan as one of the trustees in the India Cements Shareholders Trust. However, Srinivasan in his plea said Thakur, in an attempt to "sensationalise" the affidavit, sought to create confusion between him and his namesake, another N Srinivasan, a former partner of a chartered accountancy firm in Chennai. Thakur had moved a plea to rectify this "factual error", but Srinivasan contended there was no scope for confusion because the BCCI was in possession of the records.

Srinivasan also termed a "blatant lie" the BCCI's contention that the amendment to clause 6.2.4 of the board's constitution, which allowed board members to have a commercial interest in the IPL and the Champions League T20, was made to accommodate Srinivasan's interest in Chennai Super Kings.

"While the records of the BCCI show the reasons for amendments to be unrelated to personal interests of the applicant or that of the interest of India Cements Ltd, to say that amendment was to benefit the applicant would be an egregious lie," said Srinivasan, who reminded Thakur of his presence in the 2008 meeting when the amendment was allowed.

He said that those who approved the amendment at various stages included Thakur and the current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, in his capacity as president of the Gujarat Cricket Association at the time.

Thakur also reportedly stated in his affidavit that Srinivasan had "barged into" the working committee meeting on August 28 in Kolkata and "insisted upon" attending it.

Srinivasan countered by calling the statement "completely false." He submitted affidavits from BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhary, vice-president TC Mathew and joint secretary of Kerala Cricket Association Jayesh George that said Srinivasan was already seated when the meeting began, and that nobody had objected to his presence.

In his petition, Srinivasan alleged Thakur had provided false evidence. "The averments in the false (BCCI) application can then only be personal to Anurag Thakur, who has abused the process of this court by filing his personal false affidavit in the garb of an affidavit on behalf of the BCCI," an Indian Express report quoted Srinivasan as saying in his plea.

Srinivasan's plea, according to the newspaper report, sought charges under Sections 193 and 209 of the Indian Penal Code, which can fetch a maximum of seven years of imprisonment.