Kirti Azad urges Centre to take over BCCI

Not only was the BCCI unaccountable to anyone, the present secretary J Y Lele seems to revel in that accountability. The BCCI seems to be under the impression that it is above the laws of the land, he said reacting to the statement of Lele in which he had said that the BCCI was not going to be guided by the government directives on evolution of code of conduct for players.

The last two months have proved that Indian cricket is deeply tainted and from enjoying a position as representatives of the national team, Indian cricketers were today being seen by the people as mercenaries and fixers, he said. “In all this, the worst offender is the BCCI.”

The former cricket all-rounder said it is the BCCI that has single-handedly devalued the game and presided over its crass commercialisation and corruption. “It (BCCI) is a high-handed, arrogant body which imagines it is not accountable to anybody, and does not owe an explanation to anybody. It arrogantly assumes the right to represent a billion Indians, without seeking their permission or providing them any explanation.”

Reminding the BCCI that it was the country’s team which goes and plays cricket and not a BCCI-IX, Kirti said, “as the BCCI seems capable of understanding this significant fact it should be immediately be disbarred by the government from representing the game.”

The image of the game has suffered tremendously at the hands of the BCCI because of the current match-fixing controversy, which the body has tried best to sweep under the carpet.

He asked the BCCI to reply to many of his queries including,

— Can the BCCI give any reason why it should not be taken over by the government seeing that the game has fallen into such disrepute during the time that it was managing the game?

– What steps is the BCCI taking to see that the match-fixing evil is rooted out forever?

— Why wasn’t the BCCI as transparent in its enquiry against match-fixing as the South African Cricket Board?

– Would the BCCI clarify whether some members have been involved in betting heavily on cricket matches and some of these people continue in positions of influence within the BCCI?

– Is the BCCI picking up the legal expenses of a player suspected of match-fixing and does it have plans to pick up the legal expenses of all the other accused players?

– Is the BCCI taking steps to the affect that the players suspected of having indulged in match-fixing are not selected in any upcoming tournament till such time that they clear their names as the Minister of Sports Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa has suggested?

– Is the BCCI holding itself morally responsible for the match-fixing issue since its office bearers see itself an autonomous body?

– Why is the BCCI code of conduct meeting being headed by a person who has himself been subjected to Income Tax raids?

In yet another development, former Union steel minister Santosh Mohan Dev has denied having any “business link” with coach of Indian cricket team Kapil Dev or favouring the former all-rounder when he was at the ministry.

Talking to newsmen in Guwahati on Sunday, the Congress leader clarified that his son-in-law Karan Dubey was a close friend of Kapil who had some business interest in the ground advertising work.

“His house was searched by the Income Tax department and I am not cribbing like Jaya Jaitley. Rather I have welcomed it and I have nothing to say against the Income Tax department. But it will be wrong to say that I have favoured Kapil and my son-in-law in some deals while I was the minister,” Santosh said.

Dubey had links with Kapil Dev’s firm Dev and Dev and Income Tax sleuths searched his house in a recent raid. Regarding the allegation that Kapil and Karan had some major interest in coal purchase by the Steel Authority of India Limited, he said that coal purchase was done through global tender and he had nothing to do with that.

He however admitted that he knew Kapil quite well as he had helped him in campaigning in election in Silchar. “This was basically due to my son-in-law”, he said.

Meanwhile in Ahmedabad, the police have arrested seven people allegedly involved in betting in the one day benefit cricket match played at London yesterday between the World-XI and Asian XI.

The police on receiving information raided a house of one Harijender Singh at the Satguru Bungalows at Vikas Gruh Area of Paladi and found that the seven were betting on the scores and the outcome of the match through telephone and direct visitors.

Police identified the other accused as Gautambhai, Rajubhai, Vasudev Dhalumal, Ramesh Sachumal, Ghanshyambhai Aavatram and Bamnubhai Sobhrajmal Sindhi.

Two colour TVs, five telephones along with nine cellular phones, Rs 3,112 in cash, besides Rs 66.7 lakh betting slips were seized by the police during the operation.

FD’s belongs to BCCI: Muthiah

NEW DELHI: BCCI president A C Muthiah has claimed that fixed deposit documents worth Rs 98 crore seized from the `office’ of BCCI treasurer Kishore Rungta in Jaipur belonged to the Board. "It is Board’s money kept in the treasurer’s office," Muthiah said when a reporter asked him about the recovery of documents from a house in Jaipur following raids by Income Tax officials.