Former IPl commissioner lalit Modi was elected the president of Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) on Tuesday, but the fuming Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended the association a few hours later. Modi was slapped with a life ban by BCCI in September 2013.
Modi swept the polls by bagging 24 votes out of 29, after the Supreme Court had cleared the decks for the announcement of the election results, more than four months after the polls. The result was announced by court-appointed observer Justice (retd) NM Kasliwal. Modi’s opponent Rampal Sharma got only five.
However, within hours of the declaration of results, BCCI suspended RCA indefinitely and decided to form an ad-hoc committee to run the affairs of the affiliated unit.
“Keeping in mind the interests of the sport of cricket and in order to safeguard the best interests and welfare of the cricketers playing the game in different age-groups and their future, an ad-hoc committee will be constituted shortly by BCCI,” the statement read.
“As per the order dated April 30, 2014, the Supreme Court had directed that if it is founded by BCCI that any person has acted against its rules, regulations or law, which is to be enforced by it, it would be open to it to take action against such a person,” BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel said in a statement.
“In pursuance of the order, under authority vested in him as per Regulation 32 (vii) of the Rules and Regulations of BCCI, Shivlal Yadav, interim president, BCCI, has suspended the Rajasthan Cricket Association from the membership of the BCCI, pending disciplinary proceedings against it on charges of misconduct,” the statement added.
Modi termed the result as a big victory for him. “It is a big victory. It has been four years since I have been fighting the previous cricket establishment at the RCA because of the deteriorating facilities,” Modi said.
On a question on whether the win paves the way for a BCCI comeback, Modi said: “I am not denying that. We have to cleanse cricket. The Supreme Court has helped in that activity by appointing Justice Mudgal panel to probe the allegations of corruption in the IPl.”
Meanwhile, former board and ICC president Sharad Pawar slammed the BCCI’s decision to suspend RCA. “I was shocked to hear about the decision. I think it is a very harsh decision by the BCCI. For the sake of one individual to suspend a whole organisation is really shocking. I hope BCCI’s interim president will show some spirit in the organisation and respect the views of the judiciary,” Pawar said.
Modi’s close confidante and counsel said Mehmood M Abdi, who was elected as the vice-president, said that former board president N Srinivasan was still running the show. “We had thought that better sense would prevail in the BCCI after appointing Gavaskar and Shivlal Yadav by the apex court. But the BCCI is working in same revengeful manner against former IPl commissioner lalit as before and that is why Gavaskar and Shivlal Yadav are toeing line of Srinivasan,” Abdi said.
The RCA vowed to challenge the suspension in court. “We are mulling over the situation and would appeal in the High Court,” Abdi added.
“We are governed by the Sports Act prevailing in the State and it is law of the land whereas BCCI is just a registered body. We shall raise the matter on all possible forums apart from fighting it out in the court. It is unfair to punish the association given that the ban was on one person. Some of the members are pushing for a Special General Body meeting of the BCCI to be convened at the earliest and I hope the matter would come up there too,” Abdi pointed out.
Among other office-bearers, Somendra Tiwari was elected as the new secretary, while Pawan Goyal won the treasurer’s post. Abdi, a close confidante and legal counsel of Modi, has been elected as the deputy president of the RCA.
“Modi will be running RCA through his executive committee. It is a shrinking world and lot of the work is done through video conferencing. CP Joshi was the chief earlier for four years and he used to be in Delhi most of the times,” he said. “I expect Modi to be back when the security situation improves,” he added, referring to the alleged security threat cited by Modi for refusing to come back to India.