Just hours after Lalit Modi was declared the president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) in Jaipur today, the BCCI has “indefinitely” suspended RCA and appointed an ad-hoc body to run its cricket affairs.
“The BCCI President has indefinitely suspended RCA from participating in any BCCI activity. The decision has been taken as per the constitution clause No. 32, sub-clause 7, where the president has the right to suspend an association, which doesn’t conform with the rules and regulations of the BCCI. The decision was taken by interim president Shivlal Yadav,” BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel told PTI.
Asked if the chances of Rajasthan players being selected in various national teams will be affected because of this development, Patel said, “BCCI is pro-player. Our endeavour will be to look after the cricketers from Rajasthan. We will be forming an ad-hoc body which will run cricket in Rajasthan, taking care of the interest of the players.”
The election was conducted in December last year but the results were sealed following a Supreme Court directive. After much deliberation, the result was finally announced by a court-appointed observer today.
As expected Modi won by a landslide margin, polling in 24 out of 33 votes, while his opponent Rampal Sharma earned just five.
The banned administrator, who has been living in London for the past four years, was allowed to contest the RCA elections held on December 19 last year under the supervision of a Supreme Court-appointed observer.
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”.
Later last year, the apex court made its retired judge Justice Kasliwal a principal observer to oversee the RCA elections. The elections had become contentious because Modi was in the fray for the president-ship.
Challenging the election, the BCCI pleaded that Modi should not have been allowed to contest and the election be quashed.