BCCI CEO Rahul Johri was told by the Lodha Committee that the revised Supreme Court order of January 3 had disqualified Amitabh Choudhary as joint secretary, stripping him of the right to convene any meeting.
Choudhary would have attracted contempt of court proceedings if he had conducted the selection committee meetings and hence the BCCI CEO, on a direction from the Lodha Committee, went ahead with meetings that selected two India-A teams and the India squads for the three-match ODI series and three-match Twenty20 series against England.
The Lodha Committee, which was kept abreast of the developments at the Cricket Centre, conveyed to Johri in no uncertain terms that Choudhary could not conduct any meeting and if he did so, it would be regarded as contempt of the Supreme Court order; especially after Johri sought the Committee’s direction.
Former BCCI officials affected by the Supreme Court order, including Choudhary, have referred to FAQ No. 8 on the Committee’s website lodhacommittee.wordpress.com , which deals with eligibility norms.
On whether an office-bearer, who has held a State post for nine years or more, was allowed to be a BCCI councillor/office-bearer, the website says, “Yes. The period as office-bearer under the State shall not be counted towards the period as office-bearer of the BCCI and vice versa. Therefore, technically one individual can be an office-bearer at the State association for 9 years and separately an office-bearer/councillor at the BCCI for another 9 years, subject of course to the cooling-off period after each term.”
Choudhary has completed nine years as a State office-bearer, but not as a BCCI office-bearer.
However, a Lodha Committee official explained to The Hindu , “That has been superseded by the Supreme Court order of Jan. 3, 2017, which they [BCCI officials] are avoiding referring to. They refer only to the order of Jan. 1, 2017.”
The January 3 amendment changed the norm to “Has been an Office Bearer of the BCCI or a State Association for a cumulative period of 9 years.” According to the Lodha Committee’s interpretation of the modification, Choudhary was ineligible.
Two junior national selectors, Ashish Kapoor and Amit Sharma, did not initially sign on the dotted line after picking the India under-19 probables, but were urged to sign once they were told it would not be construed as contempt. They did so eventually.
Reliable sources said that the senior and junior selection committee members were persuaded, allegedly by some former BCCI officials, not to take part in the meeting. It is apparent efforts were made to stall the selection committee meetings after the Cricket Club of India’s top management was asked to withdraw from all activities related to England’s tour matches on Jan. 10 and 12.
