BCCI's SGM adjournment is just a farce: Aditya Verma

BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke arrives for the SGM at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai yesterday. Pic/PTI

The petitioner in the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scandal and Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) secretary Aditya Verma said the adjournment of the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) Special General Meeting (SGM) yesterday was nothing but a farce and termed BCCI officials as ‘Alibaba and 30 men'.

So far, the BCCI has convened several meetings successfully but maybe for the fist time the SGM had to be adjourned within a few minutes due to improper authorisation letters from some of the representatives of the state associations.

The SGM will now be held this afternoon. In the process, the BCCI has missed the deadline of September 30 set by the Lodha Committee for the implementation of the first stage of recommendations passed by the Supreme Court on July 18.

IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla, who was present at the BCCI headquarters, said every representative attending the meeting will need an authorisation letter from the respective state associations. "Not everybody had that letter. Consequently, the meeting was adjourned. BCCI has given them a day's time to get the letters as the nominees to attend the SGM," Shukla, who was representing Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association, said.

Behaving like a novice
It is hard to digest that state association secretaries, who themselves have convened their respective state association meetings several times, run the associations' day-to-day affairs and are responsible for financial decisions involving lakhs of rupees, arrived at the SGM without proper documents.

"There is no issue of authorisation letter or documents; this is just an excuse. The fact is that no one went to attend this meeting (SGM) even after a proper invitation. BCCI is already divided into two groups. "This BCCI is the group of ‘Alibaba and his men'. I am sure they will not be able to decide on anything even after getting that additional 24 hours," Verma told mid-day yesterday.

Missing the deadline
Verma also added that he would file a contempt of court case against those representatives who will attend today's meeting. "They have already crossed the deadline (September 30). They had not accepted and implemented the reforms as instructed by Justice Lodha Committee. Those who will attend BCCI meetings after the deadline are liable of contempt of court and I will file the same against them in Supreme Court," he added.