What happens to CSK and Rajasthan Royals now?

The supreme court held Gurunath Meiyappan (Srinivasan’s son-in-law and CSK team principal) and Raj Kundra (Rajasthan Royals co-owner) guilty of betting during 2013 IPL, hence accepting the findings of probe committee headed by Justice Mukul Mudgal.

The special bench of Justices TS Thakur and FM Ibrahim Kalifulla, enunciated a 138-page judgment,  stating Srinivasan played no role in shielding his son-in-law, but set up a new three-member judicial panel to recommend sanctions against Meiyappan, Kundra and their respective franchises.

The new committee will also “examine and make suitable recommendations to the BCCI for such reforms in its practices and procedures and such amendments in the Memorandum of Association, Rules and Regulations as may be considered necessary and proper”. It can amend the BCCI’s constitution and even bring it under RTI.

Further, Rajasthan Royals contended in the apex court that even if Kundra were held guilty, the other stakeholders in the franchise need not be punished for the misconduct of one of the promoters holding only 11% equity.

It is still not clear if the two franchises will be cancelled. When asked to comment on the judgement, RR chief executive Raghu Iyer stated in a text message: “We are awaiting to read the full order first.”

According to IPL rules, a team can be suspended if its officials bring the event into disrepute. The clause 11.3 (c) of the IPL franchise agreements states that the agreements can be terminated if “the Franchise, any Franchise Group Company and/or any owner acts in any way which has a material adverse effect upon the reputation or the standing of the League, BCCI-IPL, BCCI, the Franchise, the team (or any other team in the League) and/or the game of cricket.”