IPL betting scandal: Sports minister says 'guilty will be punished'

Expressing deep concern over the ongoing strictures by the Supreme Court (SC) over the 2013 IPL (Indian Premier League) betting and spot-fixing controversy, India's sports minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, has promised severe action against all those who are found guilty in the scandal.

"Yes, yes, whosoever is guilty (will be punished)," Mr. Sonowal said when asked if the guilty would be taken to task. "I have already said that it is a matter of serious concern for the sports fraternity. (We) would definitely like the report to come out first. Then we will go through it(, and take decisions)," he added.

Mr. Sonowal was speaking at an interaction organized with the members of the Indian blind cricket team, who are scheduled to travel to South Africa for the Blind Cricket ODI World Cup.

The issue relates to the 2013 IPL during which three Rajasthan Royals (RR) players, S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila, were accused of being involved in spot-fixing. The issue became grave after investigations by the Mukul Mudgal panel, formed by the SC to look into the entire episode, found the owners of Chennai Super Kings and RR involved in active betting. The SC has now passed strictures against N Srinivasan and has asked him to explain 'charges of conflict of interests'.