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As former Chief Justice of India Rajendra Mal Lodha delivered his verdict in the IPL spot-fixing scam, Aditya Verma heaved a sigh of relief.
His battle against the Board of Control for Cricket in India and Narayanswami Srinivasan seems to have borne fruit, as the panel suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals from the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament for two years.
Verma, the petitioner in the IPL spot-fixing scandal, hailed the verdict, stating that the ball is now in the BCCI’s court and cleaning up the mess can start with Anurag Thakur (BCCI secretary) urging former BCCI president Srinivasan to withdraw his representation from the ICC.
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“I salute the verdict and very happy with the verdict. Those who have brought disrepute to the game should be done away by the BCCI,” declared the secretary of the unrecognized Cricket Association of Bihar.
“People who have brought disrepute to the game have been punished and the verdict has shown that the game and the law is bigger than any individual,” he added.
The panel also found Chennai Super Kings official Gurunath Meiyappan and Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra guilty of betting and banned them for life for indulging in corrupt practices.
“If BCCI has to clean its image then I urge them to ensure stringent punishments are given to the accused and file criminal charges against these individuals, including N Srinivasan, otherwise, I will have to go to court once again,” Verma said, adding he will now approach the apex court regarding the names the Justice Mukul Mudgal committee, which had earlier probed the scandal, submitted in its report in a sealed envelope to the Supreme Court.
Quizzed about the future of the two suspended teams, Verma said: “Frankly speaking, they should have thought about it earlier. They were not worried about the future, and now there is no point in fretting over it.”
He also turned his ire towards Srinivasan, stating that he doesn’t have any ethics.
“Let me tell you, Srinivasan does not have any ethics. He is a selfish character whose sole aim is to mint money.
“So BCCI should, as soon as possible, recall his nomination as its representative in the ICC and file criminal charges against him, as his franchise has been guilty of corrupt practices. I feel India Cements knew about everything that was going on but they didn’t take any action.
"In my view, to cover up a corruption is a corruption,” he concluded.
Image: Aditya Verma
Photograph: Harish Kotian/Rediff.com