BCCI rules aren't sacrosanct for us: Supreme Court

                                 Supreme Court continued its probe on the conflict of interest angle

The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, continued to probe the conflict-of-interest angle it had raised against N Srinivasan and Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI), in connection with Indian Premier League's (IPL) spot-fixing and betting scandal.

Deeming the conflict of interest situation 'relevant', the two-judge bench decided to scrutinize the controversial amendments to BCCI Clause 6.2.4. The court said that the issue of conflict of interest cannot be "glossed over". Rajeev Dhawan, appearing for former BCCI President IS Bindra, told the court: "This clause needs to be examined and this is the heart of the problem and this amendment gave rise to greed. If this is not dealt with, then all the problem would remain unaddressed."

India's top court also warned BCCI against believing that the Supreme Court cannot adjudicate on BCCI rules. This followed after Kapil Sibal, who is representing BCCI, argued last week that the BCCI rules had to be adhered to by any panel handing out punishments to perpetrators. "If conflict of interest has to go, it will go. Your rules aren't sacrosanct for us," the Supreme Court is reported to have told BCCI during the hearing.

The apex court also asked BCCI to give a list of administrators and players having commercial interest in IPL and Champions League T20 (CLT20). They also expressed their exasperation at BCCI administrators having vested business interests in the T20 league. "Heaven's won't fall if BCCI officials don't own team," the Supreme Court was quoted as saying.

The hearing into the spot-fixing and betting scandal will continue on Wednesday, a third straight day, which is happening for the first time since the hearing began.