High drama was witnessed at the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s crucial Working Committee meeting in Kolkata on Friday over the presence of Narayanswami Srinivasan, prompting president Jagmohan Dalmiya to adjourn it sine die over lack of legal clarity on the sidelined former chief's status.
"The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Working Committee meeting was adjourned sine die after deciding to seek the opinion of the Hon'ble Supreme Court whether Mr. N. Srinivasan could attend the meetings of the BCCI as the authorised representative of Tamil Nadu Cricket Association," read a statement from BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur.
The Working Committee was to discuss the report of the four-member working group on the roadmap for conducting the IPL in the wake of the two-year suspension of two franchises -- Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals -- by the Supreme Court-appointed Justice R M Lodha committee.
The meeting was postponed as the members argued over the presence of Srinivasan, who was earlier barred by the Supreme Court from contesting the BCCI president's post following the IPL spot-fixing scandal.
In his defence, Srinivasan, who attended the meeting as president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, placed Justice Sri Krishna's opinion which said he was entitled to attend the meeting, an official who attended the meeting said.
But some BCCI members countered that argument and claimed that the Supreme Court had made it clear that he should stay away from BCCI meetings.
"Since there was no clarity on the legal status of Mr Srinivsan, President adjourned the meeting after the BCCI legal adviser Ushanath Banerjee also said that he was not sure about Srinivasan's legal standing as of now," the official said.
The official said that Srinivasan was specifically told not to attend the meeting and among those who tried to dissuade him were IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla and BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhary. However, the Chennai strongman did not give in and attended.
Srinivasan tried explaining his stance to the BCCI members by insisting that there was no conflict of interest in his position as an administrator and as owner of Indian Cements -- the company which owned Chennai Super Kings.
The BCCI, it is learnt, decided to have its Annual General Meeting in Kolkata on September 27.
The working committee was to discuss the Justice Lodha Committee report and the subsequent recommendations of the Working Group.
The meeting was also set to deliberate on the the Madras high court order directing the BCCI, India Cements and others involved to submit their counter affidavits to the petition which has been filed by CSK Ltd.
The high court has directed the parties to file their written submissions within a certain time period and the next hearing has been scheduled for September 23.
The two-time champions Chennai Super Kings had moved the Madras high court challenging the suspension. The first bench of the high court had found the petition maintainable and issued notice to the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Other key points on the agenda were the NCA committee recommendations on whether to keep the apex academy in Bangalore, discuss affiliation status of Chattisgarh, Bihar and Manipur and the technical committee recommendation among others.
Appointment of India's next coach was not on the agenda but the working committee was to ask the Cricket Advisory Committee, comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, to finalise the name.
On Thursday, the IPL Governing Council had recommended having two new teams for the next two editions of Indian Premier League in place of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals.
