Supreme Court issues notice to Srinivasan, Shah on CoA complaint

Asking them to file their replies to the complaint by the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) led by former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai, for their presence at a crucial BCCI meeting, the apex court issued notice ousted BCCI president N. Srinivasan and Saurashtra Cricket Association representative Niranjan Shah .The  court will hear this issue exclusively on July 24.

The State and member cricket associations of BCCI have no business to choose disqualified persons as their nominees, the Supreme Court prima facie observed on Friday.

A Bench led by Justice Dipak Misra was reacting to a report by Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) led by former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai, that Mr. Srinivasan and Mr. Shah attended a Special General Body meeting (SGM) on June 26 in Mumbai as "nominees" of their respective cricket associations. Mr. Rai alleged that the two used the platform to "hijack" the meeting and stall reform in Indian



cricket.

In oral observation, the Supreme Court bench said, "If a person is disqualified as an office bearer, he cannot be nominated... Office bearers cannot nominate a disqualified person."

CoA counsel and senior advocate Parag Tripathi and C.U. Singh said that Mr. Srinivasan, who attended the June 26 meeting as the nominee of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, is both disqualified under the nine-year maximum limit for office-bearers and is above the age limit of 70. Mr. Tripathi said Mr. Shah would "definitely be hit by the age limit rule".

'Nothing illegal in attending SGM'

"But they are members of these associations. What is wrong with an association choosing its member to attend the SGM? It is nowhere said in the Supreme Court judgment that a member cannot attend the meetings. There is an increasingly anti-Srinivasan and anti-Shah atmosphere here," senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for some of the State associations, countered.