N Srinivasan's Daughter Rupa Gurunath Found Guilty Of "Conflict Of Interest" By BCCI

Rupa Gurunath is found guilty of "Conflict of Interest" for the Indian Cements Limited's (ICL) close association with Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited (CSKCL) in an order passed on Thursday by the BCCI Ethics Officer Justice (Retd) DK Jain.

Rupa Gurunath is the first woman president of a BCCI affiliated unit which is the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA). She is also the daughter of former Chairman of the International Cricket Council and former President of the BCCI, N. Srinivasan.

A recent 13-page order passed by the BCCI Ethics Officer Justice (Retd) DK Jain found the full-time Director of ICL indirectly guilty of conflict of interest for ICL's close association with Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited (CSKCL). The order also states that CSKCL is a part of the ICL "umbrella". Chennai Super Kings IPL franchise is owned by CSKCL.

The order was passed after a complaint was made by Sanjeev Gupta from Indore. Gupta is a former member of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA).

In the order BCCI Ethics Officer Justice (Retd) DK Jain wrote, "All these facts go on to show that a circuitous web of entities including CSKCL has been created under the umbrella of ICL. The management and governance of all such entities directly or indirectly, lies in the Board of ICL, notwithstanding the defendant pleaded that ICL has no stake in CSKCL".

Jain reportedly added that according to the present factual scenario, it is safe to infer that the Respondent who is Rupa Gurunath who is the Whole Time Director and Promoter of ICL has a close association with the Trustees of IC Shareholders Trust and the Directors of CSKCL, which has Franchise Agreement with the BCCI. Jain further added that under Rule 38(1)(i), this is recognised as a form of conflict of interest.

It also has the discretion to allow the state body to appeal against the order either to a new Ethics Officer or in court.