KSCA amended by-laws as per SC order: Sudhakar

Seven state associations, including the Karnataka State Cricket Association, have failed to submit the compliance report of a Supreme Court order dated August 9 and have not amended their constitution, the Committee of Administrators told the apex court in its 10th status report on Tuesday.

KSCA secretary Sudhakar Rao, however, clarified on Tuesday evening that the association had sent the amended by-laws of its constitution and sent the same for ratification before registrar of societies in Bengaluru as well as the CoA.

“We have amended the by-laws 100 percent as per the Supreme Court order. Now we are waiting for a (approved) certificate from the registrar, and once that comes through we will submit it to CoA,” he explained.

The other associations which have not submitted the compliance certificate to the CoA are Haryana, Himachal, Gujarat, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal.

The CoA also called for the forensic audit of state associations to check on the misuse of funds.

“The due diligence reports submitted by various audit firms engaged by BCCI, prima facie, show instances of malfeasance and misfeasance of funds in certain State Associations, which require further investigation in order to ascertain the specific individuals involved in the same. The Committee of Administrators believes that it is essential that such further investigation be carried out in each of the relevant State/Member Associations,” the CoA report stated.

The Supreme Court appointed committee, comprising Vinod Rai and Diana Eduljee, also stressed the BCCI needs to appoint an ombudsman and an Ethics Officer at the earliest to address disputes leading up to the Annual General Meeting and elections.

“The newly registered constitution of BCCI requires the appointment of an Ombudsman at the Annual General Meeting for the purpose of providing an independent dispute resolution mechanism…,” the report stated.

The Ombudsman must be a retired judge or chief justice of a High Court and must be given a one-year tenure, subject to a maximum of three terms. The AGM will be conducted on the lines of new constitution, approved by the Supreme Court, which provided state associations 30 days to adopt the reforms. However, there has been continued opposition by a few associations against the reforms.

“…it is necessary that the first Ombudsman be appointed at the earliest so that the provisions relating to independent dispute resolution mechanism under the newly registered constitution can be implemented immediately.”

The Ombudsman will deal with grievances raised by members of BCCI and the IPL teams besides addressing acts of “indiscipline, misconduct, breach, etc”.

“It is necessary that the first Ethics Officer of BCCI be appointed at the earliest so that the complaints related to Conflict of Interest can be considered and addressed by a duly qualified person.”

DH News Service