ORDER

A. K. PATNAIK, J.

The Cricket Association of Bihar filed PIL No.55 of 2013 in the Bombay High Court challenging the constitution of a panel of two retired judges of the Madras High Court by the BCCI to probe into the allegations of betting and spot-fixing in IPL, 2013 against Mr. Gurunath Meiyappan as the alleged Team Principal of Chennai Super Kings and the part-time owner of IPL Franchise Rajasthan Royals contending that the panel was not constituted in accordance with the Operational Rules applicable to IPL. The Cricket Association of Bihar accordingly made a prayer in the PIL that the BCCI be directed to recall its order constituting the probe panel and by the impugned judgment dated 30.07.2013, the High Court held that the constitution of the probe panel was not in accordance with the Operational Rules applicable to the IPL. The High Court, however, declined to constitute a fresh panel to inquire into the aforesaid allegations and took the view in the impugned judgment that the constitution of the probe panel was the prerogative of the BCCI under the Operational Rules applicable to the IPL.

2. Aggrieved by the impugned judgment of the Bombay High Court insofar as the High Court declined to constitute a fresh panel, the Cricket Association of Bihar has filed SLP (C) No.26633 of 2013 (now Civil Appeal No.4236 of 2014). Aggrieved by the impugned judgment of the High Court insofar as it held that the constitution of the probe panel by the BCCI was not in accordance with the Operational Rules applicable to the IPL, BCCI has filed SLP (C) No.25027 of 2013 (now Civil Appeal No.4235 of 2014). Both the special leave petitions were heard and on 08.10.2013, this Court passed an order constituting a Probe Committee comprising

(i) Mr. Justice Mukul Mudgal, retired Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court, as Chairman, (ii) Mr. L. Nageshwar Rao, Senior Advocate and Additional Solicitor General, as Member and (iii) Mr. Nilay Dutta, Senior Advocate, Gauhati High Court, as Member. By the said order dated 08.10.2013, this Court directed that the Probe Committee will inquire only into (a) the allegations of betting and spot-fixing in the IPL matches against Mr. Gurunath Meiyappan, allegedly the Team Principal of Chennai Super Kings and the players and the allegations against the team owner of the IPL Franchise Rajasthan Royals and (b) the allegations against Mr. Gurunath Meiyappan and the team owner of the IPL Franchise Rajasthan Royals with regard to their involvement in spot- fixing and betting.

3. Pursuant to the order dated 08.10.2013, the Probe Committee (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Justice Mudgal Committee’) inquired into the allegations and submitted two reports. In one report, the Justice Mudgal Committee concluded that the role of Mr. Gurunath Meiyappan in Chennai Super Kings as the team owner as well as the allegations of betting and passing on information against him stands proved but the allegations of spot-fixing requires further investigation. The Justice Mudgal Committee also observed that the allegations of betting and spot-fixing against Shri Raj Kundra, team owner of Jaipur Cricket Private Limited (Rajasthan Royals), need to be further investigated. Copies of this report were furnished to all the parties. In the other report, the Justice Mudgal Committee referred to allegations against 13 persons including Mr. N. Srinivasan, the President of the BCCI, which came to the notice of the Committee during the probe but the Committee made it clear that they were only allegations and were not established and, therefore, the report was being submitted in sealed cover so as not to sully the reputation of any innocent person. According to the Justice Mudgal Committee, these allegations in the report submitted in sealed cover require verification and investigation.

4. We have looked into the allegations against the 13 persons including Mr. N. Srinivasan in the report submitted in sealed cover and we find that the a