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Cricket Association of Bihar's secretary accuses BCCI of silencing sexual harassment victim - read full text of letter

Has there been a complaint of sexual harassment against a top Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) employee?

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Has there been a complaint of sexual harassment against a top Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) employee?

That’s been alleged by none other but Cricket Association of Bihar’s secretary Aditya Verma in his letter addressed to Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrator (COA) chief Vinod Rai late on Friday.

As per the letter in possession of DNA, Verma has accused Rai of allegedly “keeping quiet about a case of sexual harassment against an employee of the BCCI”.

Verma has not stopped there and further blamed Rai in his duty in failing to initiate any internal inquiry, as made compulsory by Apex Court in Vishakha guidelines for use in India in cases of sexual harassment. Verma further blamed Rai that he also failed in his duty of forwarding the matter to the District Complaints Committee in the absence of any existing system within the BCCI to handle any sexual harassment cases.

To,

Sh. Vinod Rai, Chairman,      

CoA, BCCI,

Mumbai          

Subject: State of affairs at Bihar Cricket Association and other matters.

Sir, It is with a deep sense of regret that I am writing this letter to you and at the outset I wish you to answer a very simple yet fundamental question. Do you bear animosity towards the poor and downtrodden cricketers of the State of Bihar? I urge you to ask yourself this question as well. The answer may either surprise you or shame you. I have fought the good fight as a litigant and it is because of that fight that the Hon’ble Court saw it fit to appoint you as the Chairman of the Committee of Administrators, probably because you had earned a reputation for yourself as the CAG of India and everyone expected you to work without fear or favor. It is unfortunate that the reputation of yours has taken a severe beating, not because of fear but because of the apparent favor that you have bestowed upon people who seem to be against those who have displeased you in some way.

Regarding the matter of Bihar, it appears that you did not take kindly to the interim order passed by the Hon’ble Court where the cricketers of the State of Bihar were given respite after 18 long years and the direction of the Hon’ble Court mandated that State of Bihar would participate in tournaments such as the Ranji Trophy and the like. It is brought to your attention that despite that order, Bihar was not allowed to participate in the Vijay Hazare Trophy of the last season which resulted in my approaching the Hon’ble Supreme Court once again. I believe that you probably didn’t like your blunder to be showcased to The Hon’ble Supreme Court and in a very convenient manner you have gone ahead and ensured that the presently disqualified BCA members are in charge of the affairs rather than taking action against them. I have repeatedly informed you about the conduct of BCA officials but instead of taking cognizance of their misdeeds, you have encouraged them further and it is clear that you and those reporting to you are complicit in their acts.

 

However, my quest to improve the lot of the Bihar cricketers is one that I believe in and I am dogged in my approach so once again, I wish to raise a few points in the hope that the impact at the grassroots will find its way to your cognitive brain:

 

1. The zonal selector Mr. Ashish Kumar Sinha S/o MLA Arun Kumar Sinha from Kumhrar Vidhan Sabha, Patna. In the month of june in 2018 he was the selector  of the Bihar Cricket Association’s U-23 age group is now selected as a player in the Bihar Team for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. It has been widely covered in today’s newspapers. Have your subordinates in the Bombay office taken cognizance of the same. It may not come as a surprise to you that the people in the Board office who hail from Bihar are now running the game of cricket in Bihar as their fiefdom. Have you scrutinized two of the six coaches appointed for Bihar? They are Saba Karim’s friends.

2. The appointment of support staff for the entire North East region, Puducherry, Uttarakhand, Bihar etc. has been done by Saba Karim in a very opaque manner. There is no process followed. There is no rationale for the salaries fixed. It just seems that favours are being handed out to whoever Saba wishes to please.

3. The move of Pragyan Ojha to Bihar has been without any process. What is Saba’s role? Since BCCI pays Saba Karim’s mobile bills, please get a copy of his call records for this period and see who all has he been in touch with.

4. Keshav Kumar, Babul, Samar Kadri, Rehan Khan, Rohit Raja have been selected for the Bihar team for the Vijay Hazare trophy. They have all represented the Jharkhand State Cricket Association but it is believed that only one out of the lot has obtained an NOC from the JSCA. Will you have this investigated or are you happy being a mute spectator?

 5. Anunaya Narayan Singh, Anshuman Gautam have come into the Bihar team through the Lakhisarai and Arwal districts. They have forged documents in order to show their eligibility. Will you have this investigated or are you happy being a mute spectator? 

6. The Ombudsman of the Bihar Cricket Association has a nephew who is the Secretary of the cricket association of the District Sheohar. Advocate Sanjeev Kumar Mishra, (Patna High Court) met you with the entire set of facts and had emailed you all information thereafter. Has anything come of this or are you, as usual, happy in ignoring all this? Will you only take action if the Ombudsman irritates you in some fashion for you to become vindictive?

7. The issue of Jehanabad District Cricket is known across the country. Umpire Sufi Khan’s of Bihar Cricket Association whatsapp chat and video were shown across various media. Sufi Khan had taken 5 lakh rupees from Rohit Raj and promised to have him selected. The same Rohit Raj is now in the 15 member Bihar squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The evidence was also sent to you.

 

You are much senior to me in age and therefore I apologise in advance for what I am about to write now. The three office bearers have been reduced to ornaments by your directions despite the Hon’ble Court not passing any order to that effect. In fact the Hon’ble Supreme Court has tasked them with the jobs that they are carrying out. Additionally, you have not made a single prayer to the Hon’ble Court to fill the vacancy created by the two members leaving the CoA, one under a cloud of conflict of interest and the other one disappointed with the manner in which you were conducting yourself. You have gone to great lengths to ignore the SGM of the BCCI. These circumstances may not mean much in isolation but when seen together, it is absolutely clear that you only intend to work in an opaque manner to suit yourself and maybe some vested interests. You have piece by piece taken out any democratic voice that existed that could question you or the CEO. The only reason for this is greed and hunger for power and money. The working of the BCCI now under you is dictatorial and far opaquer than it has ever been. You have been repeatedly flouting even the new constitution of the BCCI, which you have got registered incorrectly to satisfy your vindictiveness.

 

What’s more, you have given the Cricket Association of Puducherry the right to make and field the teams for the Union Territory of Puducherry despite them not yet being made a member of the BCCI. You have done this because Mr. Damodaran has become your messenger. You are aware that he controls that organisation and his son is now the Captain of that Ranji team. You may ask him to stop sending me messages on your behalf to mend my ways, I do not appreciate this. He has asked my son to prevail upon me to apologise to you if he is to have any cricket career. You know that my son has been suspended for playing cricket. Please don’t allow someone to try and pressurize me by using my son. I have fought long and hard for justice and I do not mind fighting the good fight a little more but I will ensure justice is done as per law. Lastly, I wish to remind you that in your position, it was incumbent on you to forward the complaint or the information regarding the complaint of sexual harassment of a very senior official of the BCCI to the District Complaints Committee under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act since the BCCI did not have an internal complaint committee when you were made aware of the incident. It is disgraceful that you have even acted against the law to save a very senior employee who presently owes allegiance to you. When the time comes, the communication would also be made public (without disclosing the name of the unfortunate employee who was subject to harassment.)

 

Regards

(Aditya Verma)

 

Secretary

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