New Delhi: Crisis-ridden Rajasthan Royals and its
under-fire co-owner Raj Kundra's future hangs in balance as the BCCI's
Emergent Working Committee meets in New Delhi on Monday to deliberate on
the IPL spot-fixing and betting scam and take action, if required.
The Board's head of the interim arrangement, Jagmohan Dalimya, was
forced to call the meeting after the Delhi Police claimed that Kundra, a
minority shareholder in Rajasthan Royal, has confessed to betting
during the IPL matches.
The BCCI is under immense pressure to take a tough stand in a bid
to restore the credibility of the IPL which has taken a severe beating
following the scandals.
"The entire Raj Kundra issue will be discussed at length. The
members may also recommend that he should be suspended till the probe is
completed. If he is found guilty, action will be taken. If he gets a
clean chit, he can return to the position", a top BCCI official said.
If the charges are proved, Rajasthan Royals face the prospect of
being terminated from the IPL and to avoid this fate, the franchise has
already distanced itself from Kundra.
The team is, in fact, ready to dump Kundra to save the franchise,
stating that the businessman has no involvement in its running and would
be suspended if found guilty.
Rajasthan Royals have also declared that Kundra would forfeit his
shares in the franchise if he is found to be in breach of any
regulations.
"Mr. Raj Kundra is a minority (11.7%) shareholder, and he has no
involvement in the running of the franchise. We believe that Mr. Raj
Kundra is a law abiding citizen and would not act contrary to law,"
Rajasthan Royals Chairman Ranjit Barthakur and CEO Raghu Iyer had said
in a statement.
"If however, he is proven guilty, or has breached any regulations,
he will be suspended, and he will also forfeit his shares. This is a
strict governance procedure agreed to by all Rajasthan Royals
shareholders, and it is consistent with our zero tolerance approach,"
the statement said.
As per clause 11.3 (C) of the franchise agreement, a team can be
terminated in the event of any of the owners bringing the game into
disrepute.
Kundra and his wife Shilpa Shetty have 11.7% stakes in Rajasthan
Royals through Kuki Investment. Suresh Chellaram and Family (Tresco
International Limited) have the bulk of the shares with 44.2% while
Manoj Badale (Emerging Media) has 32.4% stakes. Lachlan Murdoch (Blue
Water Estate Limited) has 11.7% stakes.
The meeting is also expected to ratify the appointment of Sanjay
Patel as the new Honorary Secretary. Patel will be replacing Sanjay
Jagdale, who resigned in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal.
The BCCI would also deliberate on filling the post of Treasurer,
which was vacated by Ajay Shirke. Shirke also put in his papers
following the scandal.
The name of T Venkatesh, the treasurer of Karnataka State Cricket
Association, is doing the rounds as a possible candidate for the post.
But RR's fate would be the focus of all the attention on Monday.
The spot-fixing scam, in fact, began with the arrest of three RR
players, including India Test pacer S Sreesanth. The scandal reached the
BCCI power corridors when the Board President N Srinivasan's son-in-law
Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested for alleged betting.
Meiyappan, who is now out on bail, was suspended from all cricketing activities by the Board.
Srinivasan, whose company India Cements owns CSK, also stepped
aside from his post pending a BCCI internal inquiry after much criticism
and coaxing by top Board officials in a stormy emergent working
committee meet in Chennai last Sunday.
Both Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals are on the same boat
as Meiyappan was CSK's Team Prinicipal. CSK had also resorted to
disowning Meiyappan to save the franchise, claiming that he was not the
owner of the franchise.
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