Aditya Verma demands Supreme Court observer for BCCI elections

NEW DELHI: IPL spot fixing case petitioner Aditya Verma and politician Subodh Kant Sahay today requested the Supreme Court to appoint Justice R M Lodha as observer for the BCCI elections on March 2 besides ensuring that the Annual General Meeting is held in Mumbai and not in Chennai.

"I would request the honourable Supreme Court to direct the BCCI that its elections should be held under the observations of honourable Justice Lodha, who has been appointed to head the probe in the IPL spot fixing case. That is the only way to have free and fair elections," said Sahay, who besides being a former MP, is also chief of Cricket Association of Jharkhand.

As Verma sat next to the Congress politician in the media interaction here, Sahay said that Srinivasan has been disobeying all court directives since May 16, 2014.

Most recently, Supreme Court said that Srinivasan should not have presided over the BCCI working committee on February 8 citing conflict of interest. The next hearing of the case is on Friday and Sahay hoped that Supreme Court will declare all decisions taken in the "illegal" meeting in Chennai null and void.

"It is surprising to know to what extent Srinivasan went to cling to power in the BCCI. On December 9, 2014, Srinivasan counsel had to admit in the court that attending meeting was an "error" on his part. Yet, on February 8, 2015, Srinivasan presided over the meeting saying he was cleared by the court," said Sahay.

Sahay also explained why it was important to have the election at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai and not in Chennai.

"It is a norm to have the elections at the BCCI headquarters. Besides that, several members have told us privately that they could be intimated and stopped from speaking their mind by Srinivasan's strongmen if the meeting is held in Chennai," he said.