Controversy clouds action against ex-president of BCCI

Industrialist and former cricket administrator A C Muthiah has courted controversy after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) conveyed to the Tamil Nadu government that he has been removed from the post of the Honorary Counsel of Belgium in Chennai.

Muthiah’s office has countered the MEA’s written assertion that his diplomatic appointment was “terminated”. Instead, Muthiah’s spokesperson said the industrialist resigned as he was ageing.

A deputy chief of protocol in the MEA wrote to the Tamil Nadu government on July 22, informing the Jayalalitha government about the development.

Subsequently, the government circulated the MEA’s intimation among the director-general of the state police, consulate generals in Chennai and the United Nations organisations.
Muthiah’s office said he has been an Honorary Counsel General at the Belgium consulate in Chennai since 1988.

Meanwhile, Janata Party chief Subramaniam Swamy wrote to Jayalalitha on Saturday, requesting her to drop Muthiah from the state planning commission.

Muthiah’s spokesperson K S Krishnamany told Deccan Herald that the MEA has “wrongly interpreted” to the state that his diplomatic appointment was terminated. “This is totally baseless. Rightly or wrongly, the MEA and the local government has used the word terminated. Muthiah is abroad. It was not terminated but he put in his papers. The deputy prime minister of Belgium accepted his resignation on April 13.”

Krishnamany claimed that the Belgium deputy prime minister thanked Muthiah for improving the relation between the two countries. Asked why the MEA would use such a word if nothing incriminating was found against the industrialist, Krishnamany said, “You must ask the MEA.”

On why Muthiah resigned from the diplomatic post, given that such offers land only to well-connected and influential people, Krishnamany said: “He did that since he is already 71 and not in a position to continue because of his age.”

On Swamy’s allegation that Muthiah misappropriated funds, Krishnamany said: “He was running the consulate with his own money. So he cannot misappropriate his own money.” Swamy has requested Jayalalitha to prosecute Muthiah for bringing disrepute to the nation.

Muthiah is the chairman-emeritus of the Southern Petrochemical Industries Limited and the chairman of the Chennai-based Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering. He had also served as the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.