Court issues notice on Dalmiya's appointment

A Bhopal court has ordered the registration of a contempt-of-court case against the Indian board for appointing Jagmohan Dalmiya as its patron-in-chief.

The Times of India reported that PK Nigam, the judge, had given an order asking the BCCI not to proceed with the proposed appointment, and the contempt application charges the board with breaching this injunction.

Yogesh Khattar, a former first-class cricketer, had approached the court in Bhopal to stop Dalmiya's appointment, feeling that it was an inapproproate step. The plea was that there was no provision for the appointment of a patron with powers superior to that of the president.

After hearing the case, the court had issued an order, saying that the defendants "will not act contrary to the rules and regulations framed by the BCCI in the Special General Meeting". However, the BCCI went ahead with their scheduled meeting last Sunday and Dalmiya was made patron-in-chief.

In the application, Khattar, has also asked that all properties of the BCCI be attached by the court and that all functionaries of the BCCI be "detained in civil prison for a term of three months".