Rupa Gurunath Found Guilty Of Conflict Of Interest: All You Need To Know About The Case 

Rupa Gurunath case: The BCCI Ethics Officer Justice (Retd) DK Jain found former Board president N Srinivasan's daughter Rupa Gurunath, who is the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) president, guilty of "Conflict of Interest" in an order passed on June 3.

Gurunath, who is the first woman president of a BCCI affiliated unit, and a full-time Director of India Cements Limited (ICL) has been found guilty of indirect conflict of interest for ICL's intimate association with Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited (CSKCL).

The order termed the case "indirect" as the CSKCL has entered into a franchise agreement with the BCCI.

Here are 10 Things To Know About Rupa Gurunath Case:

• The order, filed by BCCI officer and former life member of Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association Sanjeev Gupta, can be challenged by the TNCA if they desire to take a stand for the Chief and Gurunath.
• The order read, "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"
• The order further assumed Gurunath to have an association with Trustees of IC Shareholders Trust and the Directors of CSKCL, which has a Franchise Agreement with the BCCI, considering Gupta's ability as Whole Time Director and Promoter of ICL.
• The above association is one of the recognised forms of Conflict of Interest in Rule 38(1) (I).
• Such associations include cases where family members, close acquaintances, partners are in such a position that can compromise the sanity of individual participation or appointment of roles. The same has been called out in Jain's order.
• The order contained 21-pointers, concluding itself with the request to the Ethics Officer to consider the case under "conflict of order".
• Nevertheless, Rule 38 (2) according to the BCCI constitution concerns the "failure of disclosure". Hence, BCCI is answerable for complete disclosure and explanation. "The failure to issue a complete disclosure or any partial or total suppression thereof would render the individual open to disciplinary action which may include termination or removal without benefits."
• The order, on the other hand, might be dissolved in a time of 4 days as June 7 will mark the end of the contract of Jain, making this order, probably his last passed order. However, the BCCI holds the choice of whether they will renew the order or not. The same decision will also provide us with an answer regarding BBCI's stand in this case.
• A probable outcome of BCCI's decision may be to ask Gurunath to step down from the President's chair.