BCCI annual general meeting on March 2

The BCCI's working committee has decided to hold the board's Annual General Meeting on March 2 in Chennai in keeping with the order from the Supreme Court.

During its meeting in Chennai on Sunday, the working committee also decided to file a review petition of the Supreme Court's judgement on January 22 that has made the board liable to judicial review. The possibility of initiating criminal proceedings against Aditya Verma, the petitioner in the IPL corruption scandal case, was also discussed.

In its order last month, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court concluded that the BCCI should be under the jurisdiction of Article 226 of the Indian Constitution. This makes the board open to public scrutiny, despite its status as an autonomous body.

"BCCI may not be State under Article 12 of the Constitution but is certainly amenable to writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India," Justice TS Thakur and FM Ibrahim Kalifullah noted in the order.

The working committee was briefed by the board's legal cell about the severe implications of the scope of Article 226. The members were convinced that BCCI's autonomy will be impacted with the directive. As a result, the board has decided to appeal for a review of the order by a larger bench and the petition is likely to be filed in the coming week. According to the legal provisions, an aggrieved party can appeal for a review of a judgement within 30 days but it is up to the Supreme Court to decide whether to admit it or not.

Sidelined BCCI president N Srinivasan resumed his duties as BCCI president and presided over the meeting. He did most of the talking, along with Rajiv Shukla, the aspiring successor to Srinivasan. Srinivasan reportedly urged BCCI members to file criminal cases against Verma and the insiders within the board who have been allegedly backing him.

Srinivasan is understood to have stressed the need to get to the source of Verma's financial resources. Former IPL chairman Lalit Modi, who is at loggerheads with Srinivasan, recently claimed on television that he has been financing Verma's crusade against the BCCI. Verma, however, denied accepting any money from Modi.