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indiantelevision.com Team
MUMBAI: Faced with a situation where his position became increasingly untenable BCCI president N. Srinivasan on Sunday agreed to step aside, with Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Jagmohan Dalmiya taking over as the board?s "interim president".
Srinivasan who had convened an emergency meeting will step aside till investigations into the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scandal are over.
A probe into his jailed son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan?s role in the IPL spot-fixing is going on. Pressure mounted after IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla resigned on Saturday barely 24 hours after BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale and treasurer Ajay Shirke had quit their posts.
In a statement BCCI honorary joint secretary Anurag Thakur said, "N. Srinivasan announced that he will not discharge his duties as the president of the board till such time that the probe is completed. Till such time, Jagmohan Dalmiya will conduct the day to day affairs of the board."
Dalmiya, a friend of Srinivasan, joined BCCI in 1979 and became its treasurer in 1983 the year India won the Cricket World Cup. He has been elected the president of BCCI many times. In 1996, he was unanimously elected International Cricket Council chairman in 1997 for a period of three years.
Punjab Cricket Association president IS Bindra said, "Dalmiya has taken over as interim president. Srinivasan said he cannot resign," after the meeting of the BCCI working committee.
"I questioned the legality of ?interim president? as the BCCI constitution does not permit this," he said.
Dalmiya will appoint a new member on the three-member inquiry commission in place of Sanjay Jagdale who had earlier resigned. The commission will go into the allegations of betting and spot-fixing against Srinivasan?s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan and his franchise CSK.
The meeting also urged secretary Jagdale and treasurer Ajay Shirke, who have resigned from the posts a few days ago, to rethink their decision and get back to the board in 24 hours. However, both of them said after the meeting that they have decided not to withdraw their resignations.
