India’s courts have had some strong words to say on the 2013 IPL corruption scandal. Here’s a selection
ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jan-2015May 23, 2014″How did he stay on despite all the allegations? His staying on is nauseating for cricket… It seems that Mr Srinivasan has not taken the allegations seriously.”
September 1, 2014″The BCCI’s annual general meeting is not our concern. Signing the account book cannot be a ground for reinstatement.”
November 24, 2014″Your duty as President is to keep the show [IPL] running and to keep it clean. What is your duty as a team owner? To win the tournament. Is this not a conflict?”
“Do you want to sit over the liquidation of the game in this country?”
“You mean to say when a decision is taken in the BCCI, the President is a mute spectator in all this? That he has no say in the matter?”
“Recognition comes when one lakh [100,000] people turn up at Eden Gardens to watch a match. That recognition is not because of Srinivasan. The benefit of doubt must go to the game rather than the individual.”
“We expect you to challenge the Mudgal report and call it useless. We don’t expect people to stand up and confess.”
November 25, 2014″Which private body sets up an anti-corruption body unless it feels there will be corruption?”
November 27, 2014″What is more valuable to Mr Srinivasan? Is it his office or his team?”
“The distinction between Mr Srinivasan and India Cements is getting to a vanishing point.”
December 1, 2014″Why are you taking his name? Dropping names of unconnected individuals in not permitted”
“Either there is a conflict of interest or there is no conflict of interest. There is no third truth.”
December 8, 2014″Who should be allowed to fight [the BCCI election]? People who are subject to a matter of inquiry, people who are indicted by the commission? Should they proceed to capture the BCCI once again?”
“You are a contractor and you’re heading a contracting party.”
“Bias acts in a subtle way. Even as a president if you go away, the bias will continue to influence the judgement of other people. Will it make a difference? [If Srinivasan is distanced from the CSK case] It won’t.”
“The right to participate in the electoral process has nothing to do with conflict of interest. Why should I be saddled with the consequences due to the statements attributed to someone else?”
December 9, 2014″If you wish to contest as president, your investment is endangered. If you don’t fight the elections, your investment is safe.”
“We can understand your passion for the game but not so much passion.”
“Have you invested money in cricket only for the love of the game? Business is business.”
December 10, 2014″Could any other Board could call the team selected by them ‘Team India?’ You have a de facto and de jure monopoly”
“If you fail in your duty, can’t we get it corrected? If there is some temptation for a thief to enter, why can’t you stop it? Why are you averse to it?”
“So you want us to catch the thief but not plug the scope of future theft?”
“It doesn’t make a difference, betting is betting. You should have ensured you are not surrounded by people who bet”
December 15, 2014″You knew [the] role of officials in betting, you did nothing despite the knowledge, was it like putting your job at stake?”
“What material did you expect? Did you think these people keep cash books and ledgers? Someone calls and says, ABC is betting, what will you ask? You will say you need actionable information?”
“You have done nothing. You are only looking after celebrities and just watching the fun.”
“You are saying that even if there are problems [in Indian cricket], the court should not intervene.”
December 16, 2014″Your rules may be sacrosanct for you but not for us. You should take that off your mind that the court is powerless.
“This is not the case of a Masonic lodge or a co-operative society.”
“The IPL is in a different class of its own.”
“Sending out a team, selecting a team, calling it team India, offering players opportunities to play, barring players from discharging these opportunities because of a rule violation.”
December 17, 2014″No IPL record of any player is considered during the selection of any Indian team at any level.”
