The Bombay high court on Wednesday constituted a five-member ad hoc committee to run the daily administrative functions of the Mumbai Cricket Association in response to a motion filed by the association on Friday.
Justice Sandeep K. Shinde of the vacation bench of the court also named Dr Unmesh Khanwilkar, a former secretary of the MCA, and C. S. Naik, the association’s chief executive, as authorised signatories to jointly operate the MCA’s bank accounts.
Navin Shetty, Shahalam Shaikh and Ganesh Iyer are the other three named to the committee.
The court, however, added a caveat that the committee may not take any major policy decision without its permission.
The appointment of the committee will enable the MCA to pay the Rs 83.48 lakh that it spends every month towards the salaries to its 61 employees and cricket coaches.
The MCA had been left unable to carry out its administrative functions after the committee of administrators comprising justices Hemant Gokhale and V. M. Kanade – appointed by the Bombay high court on April 5 to run its day-to-day affairs as well as implement recommendations of the Justice R. M. Lodha Committee – ended their tenure on September 15.
Consequently, the Board of Control for Cricket in India allotted the fourth One-Day International of the India-West Indies series to the Cricket Club of India, which resulted in a loss of at least Rs 3 crore instead of the MCA.
The MCA was then unable to get a stay on the BCCI's decision from the high court, which said that the association did not even have a legal managing committee and authorised signatories to conduct the match.
The MCA moved the court last week seeking the appointment of an ad hoc committee with the power to take administrative and financial decisions for it till an apex council is elected according to Lodha committee recommendations.
Nadeem Memon, the main petitioner in the matter, said, “I did not raise objections because salaries and money had to be paid to so many employees, including the ground staff.”
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