SC not to restrain Srinivasan from participating in BCCI AGM
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to restrain N Srinivasan from participating in the November 20 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the BCCI and also declined to hold the appointment of present office-bearers invalid as the elections could not be held prior to September 30.
A special bench headed by Justice TS Thakur held that it would wait for the outcome of the Justice Mukul Mudgal inquiry before it passes any order on the BCCI’S functioning. The SC has assigned the panel with the task to conduct an in-depth inquiry into the IPL betting and spot-fixing scandal. Retired Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Mudgal is scheduled to file his final report by November 10.
“Let us wait for the report of the probe committee. Let the decks be cleared for the elections. We had given the last order (in September 2013) allowing him (Srinivasan) to participate in the election but he will not hold the office (President) till further order,” the bench said, asking the Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB), not affiliated to BCCI, to keep quiet until then.
“We are not concerned at this stage with the AGM. Please wait till the report of the Justice Mudgal Committee is filed,” it told CAB, which wanted the court to declare postponement of AGM after September 30 as illegal.
CAB’S counsel, senior advocate Nalini Chidambaram, contended no office-bearer had locus standi to continue to be in the working committee of the BCCI as the AGM wasn’t held within the stipulated time period.
She further objected to Srinivasan contesting for the upcoming polls in the wake of a court order restraining him to function as BCCI president. The bench, however, told her that its order made it clear the arrangement was till further order, and also he was not ineligible to contest the BCCI election.
“So you are filing the plea that doesn’t allow him to contest when the sword is hanging. Tomorrow who knows he could be exonerated,” the bench observed, questioning CAB secretary Aditya Verma’s opposition to Srinivasan contesting the polls. The court said such a plea could not be made before Justice Mudgal report.
Chidambaram then asked the court not to pass any positive order allowing Srinivasan to contest the post when she noticed the bench wasn’t inclined to give any relief to the CAB.
Before the matter was posted for hearing on November 10, the BCCI informed the bench that the Registrar of Cooperative Society had allowed it to hold the AGM on November 20. At the outset, the bench also told CAB that it was concerned with the limited issue of spot-fixing and betting in the last edition of the IPL. VICTORY SCORE 9-1 WIN Our Lady of Victory whipped Roman Catholic Community, Nallasopara 9-1 in the Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana’s inter-parish floodlit rink football tournament. RESULTS