Srinivasan appointed new ICC Chairman as India’s Supreme Court declines to interfere despite IPL investigation

The justices on the bench during the CAB’s request, J. S. Khehar and C. Nagappan, explained that the “apex court order was “clear” and it will not hear CAB’s plea on this issue.”¹² In that, Justices Khekar and Nagappan agreed with the earlier decision given to Srinivasan when he appealed at the end of May 2014 to be reinstated as president for all “non-Indian Premier League matters.”¹³ . The apex court’s decision from May 22, 201414 explained that the original Bench,  formed by AK Patnaik and F M I Kalifulla¹⁵, which had ordered Srinivasan to step down as president and replaced him with Sunil Gavaskar and Shivlal Yadav as interim presidents,¹⁶ was the only one who could make changes to its order, to make Srinivasan’s limited reinstatement request possible. The initial order did not state that Srinivasan could not run in the ICC elections; it was only addressing Srinivasan’s BCCI presidency.

 

It appears that the Supreme Court is not in a position to change the March 28 decision with the approval of the original Bench by passing an order preventing Srinivasan from running in an ICC election. Thus, the Supreme Court proceeded not to hear the CAB’s plea against Srinivasan, and to support previous court decisions on this matter.¹⁷

 

The investigation panel for the IPL case is asked to submit a report of its findings to the Supreme Court by the end of August, after which the IPL hearings will resume again in September.¹⁸

On Friday, June 20, 2014, the BCCI sent in its final decision to the ICC, confirming its support and nomination for Srinivasan becoming ICC Chairman¹⁹ at the ICC Annual Conference from June 24 to 28 in Melbourne.²⁰ Srinivasan is currently India’s representative on the ICC Executive Council.²¹

 

Today, 26 June, the ICC officially confirmed Srinivasan as their new chairman, while Mustafa Kamal became the ICC's 11th president.  The ICC members also approved the somewhat controversial amendments to the ICC constitution proposed in the February 8 meeting²². A pivotal decision made at the February 8 meeting was creating the “Big Three”, composed of India, England, and Australia, who have the deciding power over which countries can join the committee.²³ Having Srinivasan as chairman in the ICC in light of the “Big Three” gives India a powerful presence in the ICC.

 

The ICC “comprises 51 members out of which 36 are associate representatives, five are affiliate members and 10 are full members which includes countries like India, Pakistan, Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and West Indies.”²⁴ None of the 51 ICC members objected to Srinivasan becoming the new chairman, and he will now commence his role on June 29, after the conclusion on the Annual Conference.²⁵ Srinivasan will hold office as chairman for a two year transitional period, as decided in February.²⁶

 

In addition to being confirmed as ICC Chairman, it appears that Srinivasan’s place in the Tamil National Cricket Association  (TNCA) was not affected by the IPL case, as he became the TNCA president for the 14th consecutive year on Sunday, June 22, 2014. At the TNCA’s 84th annual general body meeting, Srinivasan was elected unopposed as TNCA president, which has been the case for more than the last decade in the TNCA.²⁷