All eyes on Supreme Court as BCCI president N Srinivasan refuses to quit

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: With Narayanaswami Srinivasan refusing to budge, all eyes will be on the Supreme Court on Thursday, which had two days back made it clear that the BCCI president should step down to enable a fair investigation in the Indian Premier League (IPL) betting scandal. The court, which had on Tuesday asked the BCCI chief as to why he was sticking to the chair, wanted Srinivasan to quit on his own, otherwise it would pronounce its own decision if he doesn`t quit. The apex court will resume its hearing in the case today. The powerful BCCI chief has continued to remain mum on the SC observation that he should step down from his post. N Srinivasan on Wednesday said that he won't quit from his post and wait for the apex court order due on Thursday. TV news channels quoted a defiant Srinivasan as saying, “I have done no wrong and no one can force me out of BCCI." The beleaguered Srinivasan, who underwent a cataract surgery Wednesday, had a series of meeting with legal experts during the day though no official word as to what he plans to do has come out yet. Srinivasan`s continued silence has raised speculation that he may not resign immediately but may wait for the hearing to resume before taking a final decision. Seeking a review is one of the options available to him. Three of the five BCCI vice-presidents -- Shivlal Yadav, Ravi Sawant and Chitrak Mitra -- and former board president Shashank Manohar have already spoken out asking Srinivasan, who is likely to take over as the International Cricket Council`s (ICC) first chairman in July, to abide by the Supreme Court`s order. Manohar, who was BCCI president when Srinivasan was the board secretary, said had he been in his successor`s place he would have resigned long time back. Manohar had called for Srinivasan`s resignation when the IPL betting scandal came to light last year. Former BCCI president IS Bindra feels Srinivasan should have resigned long time back and said it was his continuation at the helm of affairs which brought Indian cricket to a "sorry state". Union Minister Farooq Abdullah put his weight behind N Srinivasan, saying the BCCI president is a `man of honour` and will conform to the Supreme Court observations about stepping down. Former BCCI treasurer Ajay Shirke, who had stepped down along with board secretary Sanjay Jagdale in the midst of the IPL scandal, said it was a sad day for the board. With PTI/IANS inputs