Rai has to chair meeting for BCCI SGM to be official
MUMBAI:If the existing office bearers of the Board of Control for Cricket in India go ahead with their Special General Meeting as scheduled on April 9, they run the risk of the meeting getting not recorded.
In their meeting with the Committee of Administrators on Monday, the BCCI office-bearers were informed to follow a certain procedure for their meetings. Most importantly, the BCCI meetings have to be chaired by Vinod Rai and the CoA would be part of it.
Rai will be out of the country during this period and it was one of the reasons the CoA asked the April 9 SGM to be postponed.
Following their Monday’s meeting with CoA’s Vikram Limaye and Diana Edulji, and CEO Rahul Johri, BCCI vicepresident CK Khanna, joint-secretary Amitabh Choudhary and treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry, have sent a reply hinting at going ahead with the SGM as planned.
As a solution, they have asked the CoA members who can’t attend the meeting physically, to link up with the proceedings via video conferencing.
However, according to the procedure laid down by the CoA, they have to be informed about the agenda for the meeting and written permission has to be taken from the CoA. Otherwise it won’t be taken on record.
The Supreme Court has appointed a four-member CoA to act as the final authority in the BCCI to carry out the implementation of the structural reforms in the BCCI as per the Lodha Panel’s recommendations.
DIFFERENT TAKE
However, the BCCI office-bearers’ understanding of the order is different. “As per the Supreme Court order on January 2, the elected office bearers are required to carry out their duties,” the BCCI vice-president, treasurer and secretary stated in their reply to the CoA.
“It is our understanding, on the basis of legal advice received regarding the orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court that the directions which the CoA has been empowered to issue cannot override the extant Rules and Regulations of the BCCI,” they said in their letter.
The office-bearers also mentioned that they 70 years age restriction didn’t apply to being a part of a BCCI committee other than office bearers.
“There is no order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court that disqualifies any person from being a member of any Committee of the BCCI or to represent the BCCI or any of its members on account of being over the age of 70. The disqualifications as per the orders of the Hon’ble Court are only for becoming Office Bearers of the BCCI or the state associations.”