New Delhi: India's Supreme Court ordered a thorough investigation into corruption in the Indian Premier League on Friday, including the role of suspended Board of Control for Cricket in India president Narainswami Srinivasan.
The court asked Justice Mukul Mudgal to conduct an in-depth investigation after an initial probe by a three-member team headed by the retired high court judge found Chennai Super Kings team principal and Srinivasan's son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan, guilty of being in contact with illegal bookmakers.
The panel has been asked to submit its report by the end of August.
Srinivasan, who is due to take over in July as the International Cricket Council's chairman, was not directly implicated but the Mudgal panel named him among 13 people who needed to be investigated.
The others were not named due to lack of evidence but it is speculated that it includes some current international players.
The panel will also comprise Nilay Dutta and L. Nageswara Rao, who were on the original panel, and will be assisted by some police officers and a former cricketer to be selected by the panel.
"The panel will not have the power to arrest but will have all investigative powers, including search and seizure of relevant documents and recording evidence," the Press Trust of India quoted Justice A.K. Patnaik as saying in his order.
The court, which had not been convinced of a fair probe by the BCCI, decided to further the probe while asking former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Shivlal Yadav to continue running the cricket board.
The court had ordered in March that Gavaskar be in charge of matters relating to the ongoing IPL tournament that runs until June 1, with Yadav taking charge of other matters until Srinivasan is allowed to return.
The spot-fixing controversy arose last year after the arrest of a clutch of players, including former test cricketer Shantakumaran Sreesanth, for spot-fixing. Meiyappan was arrested by Mumbai Police and was in jail for more than two weeks.
The BCCI's own probe panel initially cleared Meiyappan last year but the Bombay High Court, after it was petitioned by the Cricket Association of Bihar, announced the BCCI panel's decision to clear Meiyappan was "illegal and unconstitutional."
The CAB then filed a petition in the Supreme Court, leading to the probe.
