The Indian cricket board Saturday decided to challenge in the Supreme Court the Rajasthan Sports Act, 2005, that has allowed the expelled Lalit Modi, former chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL), to contest the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) elections.
At the working committee meeting here, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided that it will intervene in the Special Leave Petition filed by former RCA secretary Kishore Rungta in the Supreme Court, challenging the Rajasthan Sports Act, 2005.
"It was noted by the members that Lalit Modi had contested for the post of President in the elections of the RCA notwithstanding his expulsion by BCCI. The members decided that the BCCI must intervene in the SLP filed by Mr. Rungta in the Supreme Court and get clarified the position of BCCI to enable the enforcement of its resolution passed on 25th September, 2013, expelling Modi," BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel said.
It was also decided that subject to the decision of the Supreme Court, strict disciplinary action should be taken against the delinquent member while protecting the interest of the game in the state of Rajasthan.
The SLP filed by Rungta will come up for hearing before the Supreme Court division bench of Justice Anil R. Dave and Justice Deepak Mishra on Jan 6. In the SLP, Rungta challenged the Rajasthan Sports Act of 2005 that abolished individual members' voting rights.
The BCCI threatened to suspend the RCA if Modi was allowed to contest the elections. But the RCA wrote to the BCCI that Modi, who contested the election as the president of Nagaur Cricket Association, was within his rights to contest the polls under the Rajasthan Sports Act.
The elections were held Dec 19 and Modi is likely to be back as president of the RCA. The ballot boxes, after the 33 district units cast their votes Thursday, were sent to the Supreme Court for opening and counting of votes Jan 6 in New Delhi.
Modi, who is hiding in London, is confident of a sweep, though four district votes are disputed as the rival factions claimed they were the representative bodies. Modi is almost assured of a win against his challenger Ram Pal Sharma.
Earlier this year, the BCCI expelled Modi, also a former vice-president of the BCCI, for life for his role in alleged financial irregularities in the lucrative IPL.
The votes of the rival representatives from Ajmer, Hanuman Garh, Dungarpur and Pali district associations have been sealed and will be opened if they have any bearing on the outcome of the result.
The election was conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court-appointed observer Justice N.M. Kasliwal and he despatched the ballot boxes to the apex court in Delhi along with his report.
Modi was earlier elected as the RCA president in 2005 when the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government was in power in the state. Raje is again back in power as the BJP swept the recent Rajasthan assembly elections.
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