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Dalmiya to remain BCCI interim chief till next AGM
Fearing legal repercussions, N Srinivasan refrained from staging a comeback as Board of Control for Cricket in India president but attended the Board's working committee meeting which decided to have its crucial Annual General Meeting on September 29 in Chennai.
There was intense speculation ahead of the meeting on whether Srinivasan, who had stepped aside in the wake of the IPL spot-fixing scandal, will regain control of the Board as he aims for a second term at the helm.
Srinivasan was in attendance as president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, while interim chief Jagmohan Dalmiya chaired the working committee meeting which also ratified the audited accounts of the Board.
Though Dalmiya chaired the meeting, Srinivasan presided when matters concerning the accounts were taken up.
The working committee decided that Dalmiya will continue to oversee the Board's day-to-day functioning till the AGM in Chennai.
Legal implications
The AGM assumes great significance as Srinivasan is keen to seek a second term as president but has not been able to function at the helm because of the legal implications.
Srinivasan was dealt a major setback when the Supreme Court deferred the hearing on his petition, challenging the Bombay High Court's order which declared the BCCI probe panel to investigate the spot-fixing scandal as "illegal and unconstitutional".
The hearing will now be conducted on September 11 and notices have been sent to Srinivasan and the BCCI on the matter.
Another setback for Srinivasan and the Board was the apex court's decision to admit a Cricket Association of Bihar petition seeking a fresh panel to enquire the IPL spot-fixing scandal, in which the BCCI chief's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was also implicated.
Srinivasan had made an attempt to return to the top post in the last working committee meeting in Delhi but a technical issue had led to the meeting being called off. Srinivasan, who was originally scheduled to arrive earlier, but could only make it this morning and was received by Cricket Association of Bengal Treasurer Biswarup Dey at the airport.
Maintain the support base
Upon reaching the venue, the under-pressure administrator held individual meetings with most of the working committee members.
It was an apparent bid to keep his support base intact in the Board after voices of dissent started emerging in the past couple of months.
After consulting the Board's legal team, Srinivasan decided against chairing the meeting as it could have amounted to contempt of court given that Cricket Association of Bihar's Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the BCCI has been accepted by the Supreme Court.
Srinivasan perhaps became the first Board president to attend a BCCI meeting without chairing it.