BCCI units calls for emergent working committee meeting

At least six affiliated state units, including Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA), have sought an emergent working committee meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India on Sunday to discuss matters related to the Supreme Court case regarding the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal.

The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, said that N Srinivasan cannot head BCCI till he comes out clean in a probe conducted against him and 12 others, including India-capped cricketers, whose names have been mentioned by Justice Mudgal Committee report in the IPL betting and spot-fixing scandal.

K K Sharma, officiating secretary, RCA, in a letter to the BCCI acting president, Shivlal Yadav, said they are unaware of who is instructing the Counsel appearing for the Board in the Supreme Court.

"We have noticed the observations of the Supreme Court during today's hearing. We are unaware as to who is instructing the counsel appearing for the Board in the said matter. The issues have never been discussed at a Board Meeting and no Board Meeting has been convened in this regard," Sharma said in his letter.

Besides RCA, a few other state associations of the BCCI have also shot off similar letters to the Board.

"At least five or six affiliated members of the BCCI have written letters to BCCI on similar lines," a top BCCI official said.

Sharma further wrote, "We do not want that the stance taken by the Board should damage the reputation of the Board and Players and therefore we request you to convene an Emergent working committee meeting of the Board on 20.04.2014 at the Headquarters of the Board in Mumbai to discuss the matters pending before the Supreme Court as the said matter is now listed for 22.04.2014.

"We feel that the Board Counsel should be instructed about Board decision and should not take instructions from certain individuals."     A bench of justices A K Patnaik and F M Ibrahim Kalifulla, however, expressed reservations over an SIT or CBI probe, saying that institutional autonomy of the Board has to be maintained and a committee constituted by the BCCI to look into the issue would be preferred.

BCCI is currently fighting a legal battle in Supreme Court over the RCA presidential elections which former IPL chairman Lalit Modi contested despite facing a life ban from the Indian board.

Modi is all set to return as the president of the RCA, which were deprived of the IPL-7 home matches of Rajasthan Royals.

Meanwhile, Modi's attorney Mehmood Abdi, who is also the president of the Sri Ganganagar District Cricket Association, said the case against Srinivasan was at a very sensitive juncture and the decision from the apex court is going to have grave affects on Indian and international cricket.

"Why the BCCI counsel is behaving as personal counsel of Srinivasan instead of towing BCCI line. We demand that an urgent meeting of the BCCI working committee should be called and it should decide and frame proper line for the BCCI counsel to adopt in apex court case," said Abdi.