CHENNAI : Nearly two months after Syed Saba Karim, on the instruction of Committee of Administrators head Vinod Rai, brought in a mid-season transfer rule, BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhary has questioned the move. Not just that. He has termed it unauthorised and unconstitutional.In a mail addressed to BCCI general manager Karim, CEO Rahul Johri, the office-bearers and technical committee chairman Sourav Ganguly, Choudhary has questioned the way the CoA is running day-to-day affairs, given there is serious difference of opinion between Rai and Diana Edulji.
In October, the BCCI brought in a mid-season transfer rule for players whose parents are government employees. In this rule, a player can shift to another domestic team if one of his parents is transferred to another state. Finalised without the technical committee’s approval, this move first saw BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhary writing to the secretary about his grievances. Chaudhary went on to explain how the rule change benefited only two players.
The players are Tripura’s Pratyush Singh, who played for Jharkhand earlier. He sought a transfer citing his father, an IPS officer, was posted to Tripura. Curiously, his brother Utkarsh Singh continues to represent Jharkhand.The second player is Rohan Choudhary, who sought a transfer to Mizoram, as his father Kutub Uddin Chowdhury, employed with New India Assurance, is posted in Aizawl. The BCCI secretary’s mail mentions that Rohan’s father has been posted in Aizawl since 1989 and hence he doesn’t need a transfer to play for Mizoram.
Asking Karim to explain the reason to change the rule, which benefits only two players, Choudhary wrote: “There is absolutely no merit in singling out government servants for any benefits because service conditions with regard to transfers remain the same for all categories of employees anywhere. Besides, all citizens are free to choose their employer/place of employment.”
Citing Singh’s case, where the player applied for transfer only after finding out he didn’t find a place in the Jharkhand side, Choudhary asked: “The bogus nature of this rule is further corroborated by the fact that while the father was transferred in May and the son, who has now moved to Tripura under the so called new rule, did so only after being found not fit in a list of about 28 probables in September 2018 in another Ranji state.”
The rule change aside, Choudhary has also sought an explanation from Karim and Johri on the leaking of the report filed before them by Mithali Raj, who accused women’s team coach Ramesh Powar and Edulji of bias. With differences between CoA members getting bigger by the day, Choudhary wrote: “The recent composition of the independent committee by just one individual with disagreement demonstrated even about its formation, the manner of its deliberations, the refusal of half of the CoA to accept its recommendations establish beyond reasonable doubt that unfettered and wanton exercise of power without responsibility or accountability has not only taken hold at the BCCI, but has now become its hallmark.”