Justice Mudgal to head IPL probe panel

[Forever Indian]

Former High Court judge Mukul Mudgal, who led the preliminary investigations into the alleged corruption in the IPL, will head the new panel that will carry a deeper and more empowered probe. His colleagues on the previous committee, L Nageswara Rao and Nilay Dutta, will also be part of the investigation. In its order delivered on Friday, the Supreme Court asked the committee to submit its report in a sealed envelope by end of August. The committee will be assisted by former senior Indian Police Services (IPS) officer BB Mishra. The committee will have all investigative powers, including search and seizure of relevant documents and recording evidence, but cannot carry out arrests. They will be provided with assistance from a senior police officer each from Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi, as the committee had requested. One former cricketer "of repute and integrity", as requested, will be chosen by the committee itself. Those working on the probe will be compensated with Rs 1 lakh per working day, and all expenses will be borne by the BCCI. The court turned down BCCI's request to appoint a new panel stating it was good for the reputations of the 13 names in the sealed involved that the names don't reach new eyes. If the names are seen by new people and should they get released, the court said reputations of "very famous" people "will be damaged beyond repair". Sunil Gavaskar and Shivlal Yadav will continue in their respective interim roles until further order. The case dates back to June 2013, when the Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) secretary Aditya Verma raised charges of a conflict of interest in the BCCI's original two-member inquiry panel for the IPL corruption issue. A Bombay High Court ruling later termed the probe panel "illegal". The BCCI and the CAB filed petitions in the Supreme Court against this order, with the CAB contending that the Bombay High Court could have suggested a fresh mechanism to look into the corruption allegations. The Supreme Court then appointed a three-member committee, headed by former High Court judge Mukul Mudgal and comprising additional solicitor general L Nageswara Rao and Nilay Dutta to conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations of corruption against Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, India Cements, and Rajasthan Royals team owner Jaipur IPL Cricket Private Ltd, as well as with the larger mandate of allegations around betting and spot-fixing in IPL matches and the involvement of players. http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/story/745107.html