World cricket chief Narayanaswami Srinivasan filed a petition Friday before India's Supreme Court to allow him to be reinstated as president of the country's board since he had been cleared of corruption.
The petition by Srinivasan and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will be taken up on Monday when the apex court is due to resume hearings over a corruption scandal around the Indian Premier League.
The court-appointed panel probing the scandal had in its report released last Monday exonerated Srinivasan of match-fixing and also absolved him of trying to scuttle investigations into match-fixing.
However the court has said it wants Srinivasan to reply to the panel's charges that he did not act against an unnamed player despite knowing that he had violated the players' code of conduct during the 2013 edition of the annual Twenty20 tournament.
The BCCI petition denied the charge against Srinivasan, saying the player, identified only as 'individual 3' in the panel's report, had been "orally reprimanded" by concerned officials.
The court has not disclosed the nature of the code violation nor when it took place.
The court had barred Srinivasan from carrying out his duties as BCCI president in March until it had delivered its final verdict, although it did not stop him from heading the International Cricket Council.
The Chennai-based cement tycoon took over as the ICC chairman in June but he is keen to return to the helm of the BCCI and he is expected to seek a second three-year term as board president in elections due on December 17.
The panel has accused Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan of being involved in betting activities during the IPL while he was the team principal of one of the tournament's teams, the Chennai Super Kings.
The franchise is owned by India Cements, whose managing director is Srinivasan while the team is captained by India skipper Mahendra Dhoni.
The sixth IPL season last year was mired in controversy after police launched legal proceedings against several officials and cricketers, including former Test fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, for illegal betting and spot-fixing.
The IPL, a domestic tournament which began in 2008, features the world's top players signed up for huge fees by companies and high-profile individuals in a mix of sport and entertainment.
International news organisations including Agence France-Presse have suspended on-field coverage of matches hosted by the BCCI since 2012 after the board imposed restrictions on picture agencies.
Source: AFP
