Aditya Verma, the petitioner in the spot-fixing and betting case in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Tuesday requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) not to postpone the Annual General Meeting (AGM) just to facilitate N. Srinivasan's re-election for a third term as the president.
"Despite clear directive by the apex court, a disturbing trend is being noticed in the BCCI. A section of the officials, if the reports are to be believed, have chalked out a plan to postpone the BCCI Annual General Meeting (AGM) indefinitely. It is a clear conspiracy to keep the BCCI elections hanging till Srinivasan gets any relief from the Supreme Court," said Verma in a statement.
The BCCI AGM is slated for month end as Srinivasan's term ends Sep 29. But the BCCI may find it tough to host the AGM as scheduled by the end of September after the Supreme Court Monday ignored pleas to reinstate Srinivasan as its president.
What has struck the BCCI hard is also the fact that the apex court gave two more months to the Mukul Mudgal Committee to submit the final report in the spot-fixing and betting scandal in the 2013 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) that involved 13 people, including some prominent cricketers.
"Never before in the 86 years history of the BCCI, an AGM had been postpone for the benefit of an individual office bearer. I take this opportunity to point out that BCCI is a body registered under the Societies Act in Tamil Nadu. It is bound by rules that cannot be broken under any circumstances. The rule clearly states that BCCI AGM has to be completed before September 30," said Verma.
Verma said under no circumstances, the interest of an individual should be given preference over the entire cricket board.
"My humble request to all of you is kindly convene the AGM by September 30 and elect new office bearers as per the constitution of the great institution. Moreover, I would also like to say that BCCI is not a personal property of N. Srinivasan. As per the rotation system, it is the term of East Zone to have the post of BCCI president. I request you not to come under the influence of one person and stand up for the great tradition of the BCCI," he said.
