Hyderabad: The Board of Control for Cricket in India looks set for another drawn-out legal tussle with its bete noire, Lalit Modi.
The former BCCI vicepresident and Indian Premier League commissioner was Wednesday cleared to contest Thursday’s Rajasthan Cricket Association presidential election despite the life ban imposed on him by the board.
Modi’s candidature was cleared by the Supreme Courtappointed observer, Justice Narendra Mohan Kasliwal, who was asked to oversee the RCA polls as principal observer on a case filed earlier by former RCA strongman Kishen Rungta.
While BCCI secretary Sanjay Patil has written to RCA president C.P. Joshi threatening it with suspension if Modi was elected its next chief, there is enough legal leeway for the state association to oppose the board’s diktat. Joshi is not in the fray for another term after the recent Assembly polls that saw a change of guard in the state.
An RCA insider told this newspaper: “Joshi’s aide Ram Pal Sharma sought to halt Modi’s candidature, and after his appeal was rejected today, it is almost certain Modi will win the election unopposed as he has plenty of support, especially with the change of government.”
Mr Modi is known to be close to Rajasthan’s new chief minister Vasundhara Raje. “The BCCI will now have to find a way to deal this the situation even though the results may not be announced tomorrow itself.
That is up to the Supreme Court.” Either way, after the board slapped the London-based Mr Modi with a life ban in September and the latter hit back with charges of massive financial losses due to decisions taken by BCCI president N.
Srinivasan, it is clear that another legal wrangle is on the cards if the RCA does end up being suspended after Thursday’s election.
The board will do everything in its power to keep Modi out, but with the RCA governed by the Rajasthan Sports Act 2005, and the BCCI really being a private body, any action against the former IPL chief will end up facing yet another legal challenge.
Reports claim that the group trying to keep Modi out has based its arguments on the grounds that his passport has been revoked after an Enforcement Directorate probe; that he cannot run the RCA’s day-to-day affairs sitting in London; and that he can’t contest the polls as per BCCI rules and regulations, which say all members are bound by decisions taken and directives issued in the interest of the cricket board, especially those related to disciplinary proceedings.
A PTI report said that with scrutiny of nomination papers over Tuesday evening, polling will be held on Thursday between 11 am and 2 pm.
