Opposition alleges Srinivasan group delaying convening special general meeting of BCCI

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali in New Delhi

Four days after it was decided by the BCCI’s working committee (on April 20) that a special general meeting would be convened there is no sign of notice convening the same, forcing some members to call it a tactical play to buy time by the N. Srinivasan group.

Interestingly, the BCCI prepared the minutes of Sunday’s working committee meeting and presented them before a two-member bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday hearing the 2013 IPL betting-fixing case.

But the same Board has, rather strangely, not yet circulated the notice convening the special general meeting (SGM), said office-bearers of several BCCI affiliated associations on Wednesday evening.

Some members, led by Shashank Manohar, the Vidarbha representative at Sunday’s meeting and a former BCCI president, had sought the SGM and interim Board president Shaivlal Yadav had agreed to convene one.

“We have not received the notice for the SGM till today,” the president of a state association told Mail Today on April 23. The secretary of another association confirmed that.

“We are not happy with the way the Board is functioning,” the association president said. “If they can prepare the minutes of the working committee, they could have sent a one-line notice for the SGM too. It’s strange. They are clearly trying to delay the meeting.” 

Notices for Board meetings are circulated by the secretary’s office, first through e-mail and then a hard copy by courier. But Baroda-based Sanjay Patel’s office till Wednesday evening hadn’t sent the SGM notice. When Mail Today tried to contact Patel on his mobile, he did not respond.

The SGM has been sought to remove beleaguered president Srinivasan as head of the disciplinary committee as he has asked by the Supreme Court to stay away from the Board’s affairs until at least a new inquiry committee submits its report.

The court has asked Srinivasan to temporarily keep away as his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan is one of the people allegedly involved in the 2013 IPL betting-fixing scandal. Besides, he himself is in a conflict-of-interest position as he owns IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings while being a BCCI office-bearer.

The group opposed to Srinivasan alleged that since secretary Sanjay Patel belongs to the president’s group, he was intentionally delaying the SGM notice to buy time.

In normal circumstances, a SGM is called by the secretary, on instructions from the president at 21 day’s notice. But, according to the Board constitution, if the secretary fails to convene an SGM at the president’s direction, or on a resolution of a working committee, the president himself can convene the meeting.

(This story first appeared in Mail Today on April 24)