N. Srinivasan’s desperate bid to return as BCCI president was thwarted with the under-fire board deciding to call off its working committee meeting here Friday fearing legal trouble after the Bombay high court declared its IPL spot-fixing probe “illegal and unconstitutional.”
Jagmohan Dalmiya, who was named the interim chief after Srinivasan had stepped aside pending an internal inquiry into the IPL spot-fixing scandal, will continue in the position for the time being.
The decision to call off the working committee meeting was taken after a series of discussions among the top brass of the BCCI and amid fears of a revolt against the Tamil Nadu strongman if he tried to make a comeback under the circumstances.
The BCCI, it is learnt, will also appeal in the Supreme Court against the Bombay high court order, which had declared the board’s IPL spot-fixing and betting probe “illegal and unconstitutional” a few days ago.
BCCI sources said that it took intense persuasion from board vice-president Arun Jaitley, also a legal luminary, Dalmiya and IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla for Srinivasan to back down from his adamant stand.
The BCCI also feared more legal complications if Srinivasan returned to the top post and chaired the working committee meeting, since the probe which cleared his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, had been declared illegal by the court.
Srinivasan was told that his return as BCCI president could lead to a wave of public interest litigations (PIL) across the country, creating more embarrassment for the board.
It is also learnt that two vice-presidents and some other top officials were threatening to resign if Srinivasan chaired the meeting.