The CoA had gone ahead with the announcement of Singh as a replacement for Neeraj Kumar, whose contract as per the COA’s direction was set to end on May 31.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) got involved in yet another tussle of words over email on Saturday. This latest stand-off resulted from the appointment of new anti-corruption head Ajit Singh, a former Director of General Police, Rajasthan.
In an email to the CoA, which has been accessed by The Indian Express, BCCI’s acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary in fact even challenged the authenticity of the appointment. “I am afraid this appointment will not be considered valid until approved by the General Body,” he writes.
The CoA had gone ahead with the announcement of Singh as a replacement for Neeraj Kumar, whose contract as per the COA’s direction was set to end on May 31. However, few hours after BCCI issued a press release regarding the new ACU chief, Choudhary in his email insisted that the power and authority to make such appointments for and on behalf of the BCCI rested solely on the secretary and the office bearers and some others associated with the board.
He further opined that since the board was yet to implement the Lodha Committee’s recommendations in their entirety, the BCCI would continue to function as its existing Rules and Regulations, as per which, only he, the office bearers, members and associated members, affiliated units have the powers to exercise all appointments.
“For reasons unknown to me the elected office bearers have been completely excluded from the entire process,” Choudhary writes. This of course is not the first time the former Jharkhand Cricket Association chief has raised objections over a new appointment made by the CoA. Only last week he’d questioned the committee’s choice of Priya Gupta for the GM marketing post.
Timing the key
The CoA, however, have cited Choudhary’s refusal to sign Singh’s appointment letter despite repeated attempts on their front as the reason for going ahead with it themselves. In their response to Choudhary’s email, the committee members have stated that they were keen on getting Singh on board at this point in time to ensure he takes over just before the IPL.
The CoA email also reveals that BCCI’s legal team under instructions from CEO Rahul Johri had provided a printout of the offer letter to Choudhary requiring the interim secretary’s signature. But the CEO never got it back with the signature, which was required to confirm the appointment, which led to the CoA directing Johri to sign it instead.
“In light of the aforesaid, the Committee of Administrators is of the view that you have failed to sign the offer letter to be executed between BCCI and Ajit Singh for the position of Head-Anti Corruption Unit and, in terms of Paragraph 6 of the directions dated 15th March 2018 issued by the Committee of Administrators, hereby directs that the said offer letter shall be signed by the CEO on behalf of the BCCI,” the CoA mail reads.