BENGALURU: KN Shantha Kumar, contesting for the post of president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), moved the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday after the electoral officer rejected his candidature on technical grounds. As things stand now, former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad will be uncontested for the president’s post.
An official statement from Team Brijesh, which backs Kumar, stated that the technicality is materially trivial. “The nomination of KN Shantha Kumar for the post of president of the KSCA was rejected because the sports body he represented had an outstanding subscription arrear of Rs 200,” the statement read.
Team Brijesh confident of relief from court
“Not a large unpaid bill, not a financial scandal, not even a technical violation of significant consequence, just Rs 200 spread across four years, an amount that would barely buy two cups of filter coffee on MG Road,” the statement read.
Team Brijesh is confident that the court will rule in their favour, as a source from the camp expects the court to hear Kumar’s petition on Wednesday. The statement read, “In this case, the arrear belongs not to Shantha Kumar personally, but to the association he represents.” It also charged the KSCA electoral body with misconduct.
“The rejection of a presidential nomination over Rs 200 creates an impression not of strict adherence to rules, but of overzealous technical policing or worse, of an attempt to keep a particular contender out of the fray. When sports bodies begin treating petty lapses as disqualifying crimes, the credibility of the election process suffers,” it read.
Apart from Kumar, the electoral body also disqualified Vinay Mruthyunjaya, who was running for the post of secretary from Team Game Changers led by Venkatesh Prasad.