The arguments that didn't work for Gurunath

The Lodha committee was tasked with fixing the sanctions on Gurunath Meiyappan, Raj Kundra, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. Here's the case made to the committee asking for a lenient punishment by Gurunath Meiyappan's advocate KV Vishwanathan, and the committee's responses.

Nine arguments by Gurunath Meiyappan's lawyers for a lenient punishment

No.	Argument	Counter argument by the Lodha Panel
1	He suffered imprisonment from 26th May 2013 to 4th June 2013	His judicial custody for a period of 10 days shows the seriousness of the misconduct committed by him
2	He is facing criminal charges before the magistrate on the same allegations	The fact that he is facing criminal charges shows the seriousness of the misconduct committed by him
3	This is his first offence with unblemished antecedents in the six previous IPL seasons	His habit of regularly placing bets in IPL matches renders the argument of him being a first offender and having unblemished antecedents of no worth
4	He did not gain from betting, but in fact lost 60 lakh rupees	The huge losses show that he engaged himself in heavy bets. It is his back luck that he did not make any money
5	He is involved in charitable work of the family company AVM group	Charitable work, if any, by the family business is hardly a mitigating factor
6	Cooperated with the Mudgal Committee as well as the police investigation team	There is nothing to indicate that his participation was voluntary. On the other hand, he is guilty of not reporting exchanges with a known bookie
7	He is young (40 years of age) with a passion for the game	Being 40 years of age, he is not young but middle aged. Any person who has a passion for the game would not be involved in betting
8	The vast media coverage resulted in untold mental agony to him and his family	Any agony suffered by him because of media coverage is too small in comparison to the huge injury caused to the reputation and image of the game, IPL and BCCI
9	He has been suspended from 26 May 2013	The period of suspension already undergone is hardly a mitigating factor

 

Having rejected all the arguments presented by Gurunath Meiyappan's lawyers, the Lodha Panel imposed the following sanctions on Meiyappan:

(i) He is declared ineligible from participation in the sport of cricket as explained in the Anti Corruption Code for the maximum period of 5 years under Article 2.2.1.

(ii) He is suspended for life from the activities as explained in Article 7.5 under Level 4 (first offence) of Article 2.4 of the Code of Conduct.

(iii) He is suspended for life from being involved in any type of cricket matches under Section 6, rule 4.2(b) read with (j) of the Operational Rules.

The above sanctions shall run concurrently and commence from the date of this order.