Choose CSK or BCCI’s presidency, SC tells Srinivasan

International Cricket Council chairman N Srinivasan cannot seek another term as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India if he continues to have a stake in Indian Premier League franchise Chennai Super Kings, India’s Supreme Court has ruled.

Srinivasan, who is the Managing Director of India Cements company that owns the Chennai team, had stepped aside as BCCI chief following an earlier court order but was seeking a re-election in upcoming polls.

The apex court ruled in its 130-page verdict that “BCCI functions are public functions, amenable to judicial law” and that “distinctions can’t be made between BCCI and IPL” in regard to conflicts of interest.

The court, which had earlier allowed the BCCI to postpone its elections till January 31 pending an order, asked the BCCI to hold its elections within six weeks.

The decision was announced following a report from the apex court’s own committee and completion of arguments between the BCCI and appellant Cricket Association of Bihar, which had filed the case claiming a conflict of interest in regard to a spot-fixing probe against Srinivasan’s son-in-law and Chennai team principal Gurunath Meiyappan.

The court also ordered the formation of a three-member committee headed by former chief justice Rajendra Lodha to decide the punishment against Meiyappan and Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra, whom the court found guilty of betting during the 2013 IPL.