Amitabh's letter to the CoA

Sportstar has procured the letter written by BCCI acting secretary, Amitabh Choudhary, to the Committee of Administrators (CoA) over the appointment of new ACU chief, Ajit Singh.

Published : Mar 31, 2018 20:57 IST

 BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary has pointed out flaws in the recruitment process.
BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary has pointed out flaws in the recruitment process.
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BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary has pointed out flaws in the recruitment process.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I must at the very outset express my gratitude for being relieved from the burden of authorizing an appointment which is not supported by law.

In this connnection, it is my view that the CEO’s email did not even remotely address the concerns which relate to the process and source of power which had been invoked while taking a decision in the instant matter. It is clear that the power and authority to make appointments for and on behalf of the of the BCCI can only be traced to the extant Rules and Regulations of the Board which are still applicable till the proposed constitution pending consideration before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India is adjudicated. The relevant part of the Hon’ble Apex Court order dated 29.11.2017 as quoted hereunder leaves little doubt about the same:

            “ The matter be listed in the second week of January, 2018 on a non-miscellaneous day. All the I.As shall be considered on the same day. The grievance of the Puducherry Cricket Association shall also be considered on the same day.  The Committee of Administrators is directed to file the chart on that day which would reflect their comments on the draft Constitution and the suggestions thereof…”        

The above view is further fortified by your own email of 1 April 2017 the relevant part of which is quoted hereunder:

The orders passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court override the extant BCCI Rules and Regulations to a certain extent. For instance, the disqualifications relating to office bearers of the BCCI that are referred to in the order dated 2nd January 2017 have been enforced notwithstanding that the extant BCCI Rules and Regulations do not provide for the same. Similarly, although there is no reference to the role of the CEO in the extant BCCI Rules and Regulations, the orders dated 2nd January 2017 and 30th January 2017 clearly require us to supervise the management and administration of the BCCI through the CEO, who is to report to us. It follows that we have to sufficiently empower the CEO to enable effective supervision of the management and administration of the BCCI by us.  Except to the extent described above, we will respect and follow the extant BCCI Rules and Regulations until such time the new BCCI Rules and Regulations in line with the directions contained in the Judgment are formally adopted . ”   

Keeping the above in mind, one must also read the relevant provisions of the BCCI Rules and Regulations specially Rule 8(p) which confers the power upon the Board to do the following:

“To employ, appoint Executive Secretaries, Administrative Officers and Professional Cricketers, Umpires, Scorers, Statisticians, Grounds men, Peons, Servants and other service personal and staff and to pay to them and other persons in return for their services rendered to the Board, salaries, wages, gratuities, pensions, honorariums, compensations, any ex-gratia payment and/or provident fund and to remove or dismiss such employees;”

As per Rule 7 the “Board” is composed of its office bearers, vice presidents and a representative each from every Member, Associate Member and Affiliate Member.

In view of the above, there hardly remains any doubt that the selection in the instant matter has been made dehors the provisions of the Rules and Regulations of the BCCI as well the orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India providing for the continuance of the elected office bearers. For reasons unknown to me the elected office bearers have been completely excluded from the entire process.

Besides, the recruitment policy of the Board ought to consider the requirements of the Board including the following:

• Methodology for receiving request from operations team for hiring new employees

• Clear employee sourcing process

• Detailed background check by an independent, external agency

• Declaration from prospective hirers on relationship with the Board’s stakeholders

• Objective interview process and documentation of evaluation by interviewers

• Clear policy for fixation of salary / CTC

• Approval matrix for interview evaluation and fixation of CTC               

The CEO’s mail hardly touches upon any of the above aspects and in the absence of any other source of information my concerns remained unanswered.

Significantly, and curiously, on the other hand the three month extension requested for Prof Shetty, unanimously by all office-bearers in keeping with the law, for very cogent reasons and in consonance with the thoughts expressed in the COA meeting itself dated 12 December 2017 as enumerated in my email dated 28 and 30 March, has been blocked.

I am fully aware that the IPL season is starting and I am also aware that, keeping the same in mind, the services of Shri Neeraj Kumar have already been extended till May 31. Yet the haste in issuing the appointment letter in the instant matter without compliance of provisions is completely beyond my understanding.

I am afraid this appointment will not be considered valid until approved by the General Body.

Thanking you,

Many regards,

Amitabh Choudhary

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