To know how Thakur is still ruling the roost in his so-called cricket kingdom here, one has to only come to the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium to see his influence.
Who says Anurag Thakur has been booted out of cricket administration?
To know how Thakur is still ruling the roost in his so-called cricket kingdom here, one has to only come to the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium to see his influence.
On paper, HPCA had constituted a three-member committee – Arun Singh Thakur (Anurag's younger brother), Yudhister Katoch and RP Singh – soon after the January 2 orders of the Supreme Court sacking Thakur along with Ajay Shirke from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). In reality, though, the former BCCI president is calling the shots in his home association through his hand-picked proxies.
The big cut-outs flaunting Thakur in and around HPCA Stadium stare directly at fans flocking the stadium. Though the Member of Parliament from the nearby Hamirpur constituency is unlikely to make an appearance over the course of the Test, but all his other disqualified confidantes – as per Justice Lodha panel recommendations – are in action even now.
One such example is that of Vishal Marwah, Thakur's hand-picked secretary for almost a decade.
Having been employed as senior accounts officer with Accountant General (AG) office in Shimla for the last two decades, Marwah, a central government employee, is not just disqualified for being there in HPCA for more than nine years – first as treasurer and then secretary since 2008 – but has also been blatantly defying Apex court orders which specifies that "no government official can be part of any cricket association."
Ask Marwah about his presence in the stadium and he shoots back saying, "I have only come as a spectator."
But when he was reminded about him occupying his office chair, he said: "I'm sitting in this room with administrator RP Singh. Being a former secretary, I have so much goodwill around." That said, the smile on the faces of his loved ones around told a different story altogether.
With SC's latest orders on Friday once again clarifying that the July 18, 2016 orders should be complied in toto, a defiant Marwah continues to occupy his secretary's chair here. It is another matter that even the new three-member HPCA committee under Thakur's younger brother is also ineligible to carry out any duties until it files the compliance affidavit with the Committee of Administrators (COA).
DNA has learnt that COA and BCCI are likely to identify government officials like Marwah and will soon report to their respective organisations for appropriate action.
"Enough is enough. The new BCCI constitution has already been pasted on its website. The new elections in Board and state associations would be held in accordance and those in defiance of the highest court in India should be taken to task," said an insider when asked about defiant state associations and their officials.
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 "Hoardings-Anurag Thakur")
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