If the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) leads the pack in corruption, then the Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) and the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) are pioneers in rigging elections and functioning with zero accountability.
In the course of interviews with different members of the various state associations, DNA found that the election process is a farce and transparency is an unknown concept.
Said Rahul Mehra, a Supreme Court advocate, “The various cricket associations’ office bearers have unending tenures because elections are not free and fair. In most cases, they are tailor made to elect the same people year after year. Besides, there is complete lack of financial accountability.”
To find out what goes on in the DDCA, this correspondent attended the AGM of the DDCA held on December 31, 2011. DDCA has 4200 members, all of whom are eligible to vote or nominate a person on their behalf as a proxy. This is as per the Company’s Act, under which the association is registered.
But the rule is misused by a few for their advantage. “Those who collect maximum proxies are the most powerful,” says a member who’s been part of theDDCA for over two decades.
DNA found that in the last decade, in no election was that more than 150 members were physically present for the voting. DNA has a copy of the minutes of the meeting of several AGMs which confirms the same. In every election of the association, some 20 members collectively hold more than 4000 proxies. In such a scenario, the same people are bound to win again and again.
This correspondent got a chance to vote despite not knowing the person on whose behalf he was voting. “I will make you a proxy, vote for the person I tell you to. You can have a lavish lunch, which is arranged during the AGM,” said the broker who got the proxy made.
There is no checking system, no verification of who is voting. Getting a proxy in DDCA is so easy that anybody can walk in and get the proxy form like this correspondent did. DNA also has also a copy of a duly filled proxy form of a member who died some years ago.
Among the members of the DDCA, CK Khanna, vice president, is believed to be called “Proxy King”. In the election which this correspondent attended, C K Khanna had close to 1,300 proxies to his name.
Similarly, SK Bansal, Secretary has also enjoyed power by managing proxies over decades. Apart from these two, there are other members as well who get elected year after year. For instance, while Chetan Chauhan andSunil Dev have had tenures for more than two decades, Arun Jaitley and N K Batra have latched on to some post or the other for close to a decade.
Despite repeated calls Khanna could not be reached. Bansal said, “We are registered as per the provisions of the Company Act and so we follow that strictly. Thus, elections are fair and democratic.”
What about transparency? During the AGM, this correspondent found that various members had written letters to executives of the DDCA but never received any reply.
DNA has copies of several letters written by different members seeking details about various financial matters related to the DDCA, letters that had received no response.
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