Kolkata: Former BCCI president Shashank Manohar on Saturday said that the Board did not take any timely steps to clean up the mess in the IPL and now it has no choice but to comply with Lodha Committee's recommendations.
"The BCCI has done nothing to improve its image and now the Board has no option but to implement Lodha Committee's findings," Manohar told reporters here.
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He insisted that the BCCI's indifference compelled the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee to take action. "There has been no action from the BCCI to clean the mess and the Board's work is done by the court. BCCI has to be proactive and look at the interest of the institution and not that of an individual in order to re-impose faith in the minds of the people," Manohar, who met the current BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya here, said.
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Manohar criticised N Srinivasan, saying that the Tamil Nadu strongman should have stepped down as BCCI president when the spot-fixing scandal first broke out in 2013. "Srinivasan should have stepped down in 2013, no individual is ahead of the institution and he too is the root of all scandal and should immediately step down from his position as chairman of ICC," he said.
Manohar also said that IPL's Chief Operating Officer Sundar Raman should be removed and CBI should conduct a thorough inquiry to restore the faith of the public in the game.
He strongly felt that Raman should have been removed immediately after the Mudgal Committee report was made public. "Raman should have gone immediately after the Mudgal Committee report found him prima facie guilty of wrongdoings. He ought to have stepped down immediately at that time. Now, to restore the faith of people in IPL and the game, Raman needs to go," he said.
Manohar reiterated that the CBI should probe the spot-fixing scandal as the Board has no investigating resources. "According to me, a probe by an independent body like the CBI is required because, the BCCI does not have investigating powers. It is only the CBI which has the instigative power all over India, including in different states," he said.
On speculation that the BCCI could run the suspended teams for a period of two years, Manohar, an eminent lawyer, said that the Board rules do not permit that. "If you ask me my personal opinion, the BCCI cannot adopt the teams because the rules and regulations of the Board do not permit to do so," he said.
"Moreover, will a BCCI official sit at the player auction and bid for players? It will be again a conflict of interest and the public perception on this issue is really bad. Then you will bring back the two teams on a platter, I don't think it can be done," said the former BCCI chief.
Manohar, however, wants the IPL to continue, saying that the tournament as such cannot be blamed for all these issues. "IPL is a fine product and it needs to go on. But it should be a clean tournament and the mess will have to be cleaned up," he said.
Asked about his reaction on the Lodha Committee verdict, Manohar said, "I don't want to react on the Lodha Committee recommendations. According to the Supreme Court judgement, whatever findings the Lodha Committee give will be binding on the BCCI. The BCCI has no other option."
On whether CSK and RR could be terminated altogether, he said, "You have to see the rules and regulations of the contract the two teams had with the IPL and I am not aware of those things. I can't comment on that."
"No injustice was done to the two teams, their players can be accommodated to other teams in a fresh auction," he added.
On what discussed with Dalmiya, he said, "We discussed this issue of corruption and how to go ahead, how to eradicate this corruption."
On Tuesday, the Lodha Committee recommended suspension of two IPL franchises -- Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals -- for two years from the cash-rich league for betting activities of their key officials Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra during the 2013 season.
The committee also banned CSK team principal Meiyappan and Royals' co-owner Kundra for life from any cricket-related activity after they were found guilty of placing bets.
