After the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) barred Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rahul Johri from its Special General Meeting (SGM) on Wednesday, a peeved Committee of Administrators (CoA) has sent a notice to the cricket officials, reported PTI.
The notice has been sent to BCCI’s acting president C K Khanna as well along with acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary and treasurer Aniruddh Chaudhry. As per the third Status Report of COA on April 6, Johri is considered to be its representative in every BCCI meeting.
However, during the board’s SGM, acting secretary Amitabh requested Johri to leave the meeting along with other employees of BCCI.
The acting secretary’s reasoning was the Supreme Court’s order on July 24, which says that only office bearers of state associations can attend the SGM. He said that they were following the apex court’s directive ‘in letter and spirit’.
“Yes, Mr Khanna, Mr Amitabh Chaudhary and Mr Aniruddh Chaudhry have received an e-mail from the CoA. The CoA wants to know how Rahul Johri was debarred from the meeting. Till date, Johri, in his capacity as the CEO, has attended all SGM since joining BCCI,” said a BCCI official.
Even general manager MV Sridhar was also not allowed to attend the meeting. The acting secretary only allowed office-bearers after checking authorization letters from the representatives of the various state units. During the various ICC meetings in the past, the CEO’s meet has always been attended by the secretary of the Indian cricket Board despite the presence of a CEO.
The current move by the acting secretary may turn counter-productive for the BCCI as the COA, in its fourth status report submitted to the Supreme Court, had praised Chaudhary’s efforts to draw a consensus among members to adoption of the Lodha Committee Reforms.