New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the deck for the declaration of Rajasthan Cricket Association election results and asked the poll observer to make it public on May 6.
Brushing aside the objection of BCCI which is expecting that the result might go in favour of former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, a bench headed by Justice A R Dave directed the registry to send the results, filed in a sealed envelope, before it by its appointed observer Justice (retd) N M Kasliwal, to the observer to declare the result.
The court, however, said that anyone aggrieved of the outcome of the elections can challenge it before an appropriate authority. The apex court had on November 20, 2013 made its retired judge Justice Kasliwal a principal observer to oversee the elections.
Modi was allowed to fight for the post of RCA President in the December 19 elections held under the supervision of a Supreme Court-appointed observer. Modi was slapped with a life ban on September 25, 2013 by the BCCI after its disciplinary committee found him guilty on eight charges of "indiscipline and misconduct."
The elections had become contentious because Modi was in the fray for presidentship. Challenging the election, the BCCI pleaded that Modi should not have been allowed to contest the poll and the election be quashed. The BCCI had challenged the Rajasthan Sports Act, 2005 allowing Modi to contest the RCA presidential election despite being banned for life by the Board.
The BCCI disciplinary committee, comprising Arun Jaitley, and Jyotiraditya Scindia, had submitted a 134-page report in July, 2013, in which it had found Modi guilty of financial irregularities, indiscipline and "actions detrimental to the interest of the BCCI."
