'CHEEKY' BCCI'S BALANCING ACT

At its annual general meeting, cricket Board took decisions in complete defiance of instructions of the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali, www.outlookindia.com

New Delhi: The BCCI on September 22, 2016 defied the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee by taking up its controversial agenda at the Annual General Meeting, but also tried to do a balancing act by saying the decisions taken were subject to the approval of the apex court.

The Lodha Committee had warned the BCCI that if it took up any agenda items concerning 2016-17 onwards it would be contempt of court, until it fully complied with its wide-ranging recommendations. But a defiant BCCI went ahead with the entire 13-point agenda, and constituted new selections committees, elected its secretary, approved the budget for 2016-17, and picked its representatives for the ICC and the Asian Cricket Council meetings – all decisions pertaining to the future.

At the same time, the BCCI tried to show that it was complying with the Supreme Court order, saying the decisions taken were subject to the approval of the court.

"At today's meeting, the BCCI has tried to show the Supreme Court that it was complying with its order while not giving much heed to the Lodha Committee," said a prominent member of a state association, interpreting the BCCI move.

"Essentially, three things have emerged from today's meeting. One, the BCCI will accept some Lodha Committee recommendations in toto. Second, it will accept some other recommendations with slight amendments. And, lastly, it looks like it will never accept a few recommendations like one state, one vote, which threatens the existing of associations like Saurashtra, Baroda, Mumbai and Vidarbha,”" he said after the meeting.

The BCCI also passed a resolution, which looks a clear attempt to not to antagonise the Supreme Court, just a few weeks after asking chief justice TS Thakur to recuse himself from hearing its review petition, filed against the landmark July 18 judgement.

"The 87th AGM of the BCCI is being held today 21st September 2016 and the proceedings are being conducted for the compliance of statutory provisions under which the BCCI is constituted and also for ensuring that the day to day operations of the BCCI are not hampered particularly in view of the ongoing major national and international tournaments, commitments and is subject to the orders of the Hon'ble Supreme Court," reads the resolution passed at the meeting held in Mumbai.

A source said the BCCI also sent to the Lodha Committee the list of decisions taken, another move to show that it was not taking the former Supreme Court judges head on.

Although the Lodha Committee did not send an observer for the meeting, as it was talked about in some quarters, another source aware of the panel members' mood said that the BCCI has committed contempt of court by taking up the controversial agenda. "The committee has seen the decisions taken and it will take a call," he told Outlook.

While on the face of it, the BCCI tried to have the best of both worlds, that was not the case behind the scenes at the AGM, said a state association official who attended the meeting. "There was some rough talk on the sidelines of the meeting and one of the persons used some uncharitable words," he said. "However, officially, the BCCI tried to show that it was complying with the Supreme Court's order, like appointment of ombudsman, player-agents, code of conduct etc."

Also, the BCCI has convened a special general meeting on September 30 to consider the amendments to the rules and regulations of BCCI as recommended by the Lodha Committee.
Interestingly, the Lodha Committee has already drafted a new constitution for the BCCI and told the Board to adopt it. But it now remains to be seen how much of the constitution drafted by the Lodha Committee would be incorporated by the BCCI.

BCCI budgets Rs. 330.32 crore to fight IPL fixing-betting case in Supreme Court (Exclusive)

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali (Mail Today) 

New Delhi, December 23, 2014: Jittery BCCI mandarins seem to have anticipated that the ongoing high-profile 2013 IPL betting-fixing case in the Supreme Court would drag on for a long period and that’s probably why it has earmarked a fund just to meet the expenses, including a huge lawyers’ bill.
 
The BCCI, the richest cricket board in the world, has set aside an exigency fund of Rs. 330.32 crore, specifically to meet the expenses of this case. This amount, according to a top BCCI source, is part of Rs. 1,150.67 crore that the BCCI has invested in Fixed Deposits (FDs) in banks.
 
If BCCI officials had indeed anticipated a long drawn battle in the complicated case, in which a lot is at stake for sidelined president N. Srinivasan, his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, and IPL franchises — Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, they were not off target.
 
“That is why the Board has kept aside a specific fund for the ongoing case in the Supreme Court. If all of this Rs. 330.32 crore is not utilised, the leftover amount will be used for some other meaningful purpose,” the source told Mail Today. “So, after Rs. 330.32 crore is taken out of the total of Rs. 1,150.67 crore invested in the FDs, the Board is actually left with only Rs. 785 crore,” he stressed, hinting at a none-too-happy situation so far funds are concerned.
 
The source further disclosed: “The BCCI currently has $18.5million approximately (Rs. 116.90 crore) Exchange Earners' Foreign Currency Account (EEFC) while there is Rs. 134 crore in the various savings accounts.”
 
The Supreme Court case, being fought on a PIL filed by unrecognised Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB), has now gone on for almost one-and- a-half years. However, the arguments by the parties are now over and the two-member bench, comprising Justices T.S. Thakur and Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla, has reserved the judgement, which is expected to be delivered early next month when the court reopens after the winter vacation.
 
The BCCI/Srinivasan have hired the services of some of the top-of-the-line lawyers like Kapil Sibal and C.A. Sundram, and the Board realised that it would particularly need a large fund to meet their lawyers’ fees and related sundry expenses, like travelling etc. This case and other court battles, besides a spate of tax demands running into hundreds of crores of rupees and arbitration proceedings against several clients, has forced the BCCI on the back foot and juggle its funds.
 
This is corroborated by BCCI’s decision to break many of its Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDRs) prematurely during financial year 2012-13 to meet various pressing fund requirements. It encashed 17 FDRs, ranging between periods of 181 days to one year, which were worth Rs. 130 crore.
 
More recently, the standing committee of finance (2014-15) of the 16th Lok Sabha, in its 31-page report, which mostly deals with the BCCI/IPL’s commercial aspect, came down heavily on tax authorities for being “very lenient” on the Board.
 
In some cases, the probe by the tax authorities, including the Enforcement Directorate, continues. “The committee are, however, not satisfied with the progress of investigations in the matter, as already much time has passed without any outcome by way of penal action in these cases. The committee, therefore, would like the government to conclude the investigations in the matter expeditiously and apprise the committee of the outcome thereof,” wrote M. Veerappa Moily, chairperson of the committee on finance.
 
(This story was first published in Mail Today newspaper on December 23, 2014)