BCCI firm, Modi might move court
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After Mfr Modi sent an email to board president Shashank Manohar questioning the legality of Monday’s meeting, calling it unauthorised, the latter made it clear that he would go ahead with the meeting as per schedule.
“It is his viewpoint, everybody is entitled to their viewpoint,” Mr Manohar said, rebutting the IPL commissioner’s contention that as chairman of the governing council only Mr Modi had the authority to summon members.
The commissioner, though, isn’t backing down, and is considering moving the Bombay high court. Senior lawyers Ram Jethmalani and Harish Salve are expected to appear for Mr Modi to seek an injunction against the April 26 meet.
The meeting had been convened by BCCI secretary and Chennai Super Kings owner N. Srinivasan after Mr Modi’s disclosure of the Kochi franchise shareholding pattern snowballed into a scandal.
The plan is to ask Mr Modi to resign at the meeting, but Mr Modi claimed that as Mr Srinivasan was himself a team owner he was not authorised to convene the governing council meeting.
Mr Manohar, however, sought to clarify that there was no conflict of interest as far as Mr Srinivasan was concerned and that as per the BCCI constitution he enjoyed “full rights”. “It is not a question of owner. He (Srinivasan) is not calling the meeting as an owner of the team, and in the board’s constitution the secretary is the convenor of all meetings. He enjoys full rights,” Mr Manohar said.
“Whether there is conflict of interest is not an issue because Srinivasan, when this issue had cropped up, had sought the permission of Sharad Pawar, who was the president of the board then. Pawar had granted him permission to bid and it is not Srinivasan who is bidding, it was India Cements which was bidding, and after his bid was accepted it was confirmed by the general body,” he added.
Mr Manohar also said while BCCI was aware of Mr Srinivasan’s stake, it was unaware that Mr Modi’s relatives and friends had stakes in the franchise and deals. “Srinivasan was a declared bidder. If Modi and his relatives had a share in any of the franchises, he ought to have declared it at the meeting. I was not a member of the governing council then. He ought to have told everybody,” he said.
A board source added that the meeting would be held on Monday even if the commissioner was not present. Mr Modi has already said that he was not opposed to the meeting being convened, but it should held on May 1 rather than April 26, so that he could prepare his defence.
The IPL commissioner is known to go for any meeting armed with voluminous Powerpoint presentations and is likely to skip the Friday meet. Unless the court rules in his favour, the BCCI is unlikely to take a lenient view of his absence, a governing council member made clear on Thursday.
M.A.K. Pataudi, a member of the governing council, meanwhile said Mr Modi should step down if he has so much conviction in his innocence. Asked if Mr Modi should step aside in the best interests of the IPL, Mr Pataudi said, “Yes. I think so. Let these allegations and accusations come to some kind of conclusion and let’s see because he’s kept on saying ... For the last few weeks that he’s done nothing wrong. So fine, if he has done nothing wrong, let them take it out,” Pataudi was quoted by PTI as saying. If Mr Modi does not come for the meeting, the BCCI would take a very strict view of this, Pataudi said. “Unless Modi comes and says in the meeting that he has been working 20 hours a day for the last six weeks and needs three-four days’ time to prepare his answer, his ouster is certain. But if he does that, the board may give him time,” Pataudi was quoted as saying.
Age Correspondent with agency inputs
