The Supreme Court set to decide on the disqualification of Jaganmohan Rao from the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) presidency. Petitions have been filed challenging Rao’s eligibility for the position. The ruling, scheduled for July 23, anticipated to have far-reaching effects on the administration of cricket in Hyderabad and could influence future governance within sports associations.
Hyderabad: Petitions filed seeking the disqualification of Jaganmohan Rao as the president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA). These petitions likely to be decided by the Apex court on July 23. Rao’s eligibility to contest the election questionable, as he had not attended a single general body meeting of the Association.
The Gowlipura Cricket Club represented the HCA for a long time, but Rao contested the election representing the Srichakra Cricket Club. However, no recognition for the Srichakra Cricket Club in the HCA records, as confirmed by Justice Narasimha Reddy, who appointed as the Ombudsman by the HCA.
Read Also: BCCI Seeks Supreme Court Verdict on IPL Media Rights Taxability Issue
When the players of the Gowlipura Cricket Club contested the change of name plea made by Rajender Yadav to Srichakra Cricket Club, Justice Narasimha Reddy rejected the new club.
Despite these objections, Rao contested the election, claiming that he representing the Srichakra Cricket Club. The Returning Officer of the election, Sampat Kumar, accepted Srichakra Cricket Club as a member and allowed Rao to contest, even though the irregularities had been brought to his notice and the Ombudsman’s orders were ignored.
Seshu Narayana, the former secretary of the HCA, argues,
“This is a grave violation of the law, as the Srichakra Cricket Club is not even an existing entity,”
Rao allowed to contest the election on its behalf. The drama to enable Rao’s candidacy surfaced in September 2023.
Immediately after Jaganmohan Rao’s election, a number of petitions filed seeking his disqualification. These petitions now in the final stages of being considered by the Supreme Court.
The newly elected HCA body failed to follow the guidelines of the single-member committee that was appointed to investigate the matter. This committee, through the CEO, registered four FIRs at the Uppal police station regarding several allegations of widespread corruption involving the previous HCA president, Jaganmohan Rao.
However, the current Apex Council of the HCA not yet taken any action on these FIRs in the last six months, despite the serious nature of the charges, according to Seshu Narayana, the former HCA secretary.
Read Also: BCCI Approached Supreme Court Seeking Clarity On Taxability Of Media Rights
Narayana’s grave allegations against Rao are in line with the objections raised by the current joint secretary, T. Baswa Raju, and the Women’s Representative of the BCCI in the HCA Apex Council, Roma Singh. Both of them are members of the HCA Apex Council.
The inaction of the current HCA leadership in addressing the corruption allegations and pursuing the pending cases against the former president, Jaganmohan Rao, further compounded the issues surrounding his contested election and continued stay in the position.