The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will join the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the former Board treasurer, Kishore Rungta, in the Supreme Court against Lalit Modi.
Mr. Rungta had challenged the Rajasthan Sports Act which enabled the former IPL Commissioner, Mr. Modi, to contest elections to the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) on December 19.
The decision was taken at a working committee meeting of the Board, chaired by BCCI president Mr. N. Srinivasan, here on Saturday. The BCCI had expelled Mr. Modi from all activities of the Board on September 25 for alleged financial misconduct.
Mr. Modi argued that the RCA came under the Rajasthan Sports Act and not the BCCI to win the nod from a Supreme Court-appointed observer to contest the polls. The election was monitored by two Supreme Court-appointed judges.
BCCI secretary Mr. Sanjay Patel said after the meeting: “The members decided that the BCCI must intervene in the SLP filed by Mr. Rungta in the Supreme Court challenging the Rajasthan Sports Act and get the position of the BCCI clarified to enable the enforcement of its resolution passed on 25th September 2013 expelling Mr. Lalit Modi.
“It was further decided that, subject to the decision of the Supreme Court, strict disciplinary action should be taken against the delinquent member while protecting the interest of the game in the state of Rajasthan.”
The Rungta-BCCI SLP will come up for hearing on January 6, the day the results of the RCA polls are expected to be announced. Indications are that Mr. Modi will win by a big margin if the Supreme Court clears the decks.
Mehmood Abdi, Mr. Modi’s advocate and spokesman, said he was prevented from attending the working committee meeting. Speaking to the media, here, Mr. Abdi claimed he had been authorised by the RCA to take part in the deliberations. “The Rajasthan Sports Act, and not the BCCI ruling, was in force when the elections were held. Now, I, on behalf of the RCA, have been denied a fair opportunity to present the association’s views before the committee. I was not allowed to go in. Working committee, in the first place, is not authorised to even deliberate on the issue of disqualification.”
