Question 7

What orders and directions need be passed in the light of the discussions and answers to (the other) questions?

Excerpts from the answers follow. The headlines are given by this newspaper and are not part of the judgment

We have held Gurunath Meiyappan (son-in-law of N. Srinivasan) and Raj Kundra (co-owner of the Rajasthan Royals and husband of actress Shilpa Shetty) to be guilty of betting. We have also... held that the misconduct against these two individuals is actionable as per the relevant rules to which we have referred in detail. Not only that, we have held that action under the rules can also be taken against the franchisees concerned. We have noticed that the quantum of sanction/punishment can vary depending upon the gravity of the misconduct of the persons committing the same.

Who should punish?

One of the issues that would fall for determination in the light of these findings would be whether we should impose a suitable punishment ourselves or leave it to the BCCI to do the needful. Having given our anxious consideration to that aspect we are of the view that neither of these two courses would be appropriate. We say so because the power to punish for misconduct vests in the BCCI. We do not consider it proper to clutch at the jurisdiction of the BCCI to impose a suitable punishment. At the same time, we do not think that in a matter like this the award of a suitable punishment to those liable for such punishment can be left to the BCCI.

The trajectory of the present litigation, and the important issues it has raised as also the profile of the individuals who have been indicted, would, in our opinion, demand that the award of punishment for misconduct is left to an independent committee to exercise that power for and on the behalf of BCCI. This would not only remove any apprehension of bias and/or influence one way or the other but also make the entire process objective and transparent especially when we propose to constitute a committee comprising outstanding judicial minds of impeccable honesty.

The other aspect, which needs attention, is the need for a probe into the activities of Sundar Raman. We are of the view that, once we appoint a committee to determine and award punishment, we can, instead of referring the matter back to Mudgal committee, request the proposed new committee to examine the role played by Sundar Raman, if necessary, with the help of the investigating team constituted by us earlier.

Other aspects

The proposed committee can also, in our opinion, be requested to examine and make suitable recommendations on the following aspects:

• Amendments considered necessary to the memorandum of association of the BCCI and the prevalent rules and regulations for streamlining the conduct of elections to different posts/offices in the BCCI including conditions of eligibility and disqualification, if any, for candidates wanting to contest the election for such posts, including the office of the president of the BCCI.
• Amendments to the memorandum of association, and rules and regulation considered necessary to provide a mechanism for resolving conflict of interest should such a conflict arise despite Rule 6.2.4 prohibiting creation or holding of any commercial interest by the administrators, with particular reference to persons, who by virtue of their proficiency in the game of cricket, were to necessarily play some role as coaches, managers, commentators, etc.
• Amendment, if any, to the memorandum of association and the rules and regulations of BCCI to carry out the recommendations of the probe committee headed by Justice (Mukul) Mudgal, subject to such recommendations being found acceptable by the newly-appointed committee.
• Any other recommendation with or without suitable amendment of the relevant rules and regulations, which the committee may consider necessary to make with a view to preventing sporting frauds, conflict of interests, streamlining the working of the BCCI to make it more responsive to the expectations of the public at large and to bring transparency in practices and procedures followed by the BCCI.

Amendment void

In the result, we pass the following order:

Amendment to Rule 6.2.4 whereby the words 'excluding events like IPL or Champions League Twenty 20' were added to the said rule is hereby declared void and ineffective. The judgment and order of the High Court of Bombay in PIL No.107 of 2013 is resultantly set aside and the said writ petition allowed to the extent indicated above.

The panel

• The quantum of punishment to be imposed on Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra as also their respective franchiseeseams/owners of the teams shall be determined by a committee comprising the following:
• Hon'ble Justice R.M. Lodha, former Chief Justice of India - chairman.
• Hon'ble Justice Ashok Bhan, former judge, Supreme Court of India - member.
• Hon'ble Justice R.V. Raveendran, former judge, Supreme Court of India - member.

The committee shall, before taking a final view on the quantum of punishment to be awarded, issue notice to all those likely to be affected and provide to them a hearing in the matter. The order passed by the committee shall be final and binding upon the BCCI and the parties concerned, subject to the right of the aggrieved party seeking redress in appropriate judicial proceedings in accordance with law.

• The three-member committee... shall also examine the role of Sundar Raman with or without further investigation, into his activities, and if found guilty, impose a suitable punishment upon him on behalf of the BCCI.

The investigating team constituted by this court under B.B. Mishra (deputy director general of the Narcotics Control Bureau) shall for that purpose be available to the newly-constituted committee to carry out all such investigations as may be considered necessary, with all such powers as were vested in it....

• The three-member committee is also requested to examine and make suitable recommendations to the BCCI for such reforms in its practices and procedures and such amendments in the memorandum of association, rules and regulations as may be considered necessary and proper

Srini contest bar

• The constitution of the committee or its deliberations shall not affect the ensuing elections which the BCCI shall hold within six weeks from the date of this order in accordance with the prevalent rules and regulations, subject to the condition that no one who has any commercial interest in the BCCI events (including N. Srinivasan) shall be eligible for contesting the elections for any post whatsoever. We make it clear that the disqualification for contesting elections applicable to those who are holding any commercial interest in BCCI events shall hold good and continue till such time the person concerned holds such commercial interest or till the committee considers and awards suitable punishment to those liable for the same; whichever is later.

Fees and timeline

• The committee shall be free to fix their fees which shall be paid by the BCCI who shall, in addition, bear all incidental expenses, such as travel, hotel, transport and secretarial services, necessary for the committee to conclude its proceedings. The fees will be paid by the BCCI to the members at such intervals and in such manner as the committee may decide. The venue of the proceedings shall be at the discretion of the committee.
• We hope and trust that the committee concludes the proceedings as early as possible, but as far as possible within a period of six months.