Verma questions Srinivasan chairing BCCI meet

Aditya Verma, the petitioner in the IPL corruption scandal, has demanded an apology from BCCI members for having allowed N Srinivasan to chair last week's working committee meeting. Verma, in a legal notice issued to all the BCCI members, has demanded an assurance to not let Srinivasan chair next month's AGM.

"I call upon the working committee of BCCI to issue a statement forthwith that allowing Mr N Srinivasan to attend and chair the working committee meeting on 8th February 2015 was due to improper understanding of the scope of the Hon'ble Supreme Court order dated 22nd January 2015 and a bonafide mistake and that the working committee members will not allow Mr N Srinivasan to chair the AGM on 2nd March 2015 failing which my client will have no other option except to file contempt petition against all the working committee members of the BCCI and Mr N Srinivasan in the Hon'ble Supreme Court and all of you will be held liable for all costs and consequences arising therefrom," stated NRR Arun Natarajan, Verma's counsel.

Interestingly, the BCCI working committee is not going to meet before the AGM, slated for March 2. It is understood that at the start of the working committee meeting, a BCCI legal advisor had explained that the Supreme Court order on January 22 had not made any reference to its earlier directives of keeping Srinivasan away from BCCI activities. Since none of the members present at the working committee objected to the lawyers' explanation, Srinivasan was therefore considered eligible to not merely attend but also chair the meeting.

Srinivasan, thus, chaired the working committee meeting for the first time since May 2013, when the IPL corruption scandal broke with the arrests of three cricketers and Gurunath Meiyappan, a team official and Srinivasan's son-in-law. Once back in the BCCI saddle, Srinivasan is also set to chair the AGM.