BCCI ombudsman given power to investigate its members

Justice AP Shah, who was appointed as the BCCI's ombudsman to deal with conflict of interest, will also handle all investigations involving charges of misconduct against BCCI administrators said its president Shashank Manohar. He added that any punishment thereafter would be determined by the board.

The 67-year old Shah is a former Chief Justice of Delhi and Madras High courts. He was appointed as the first-ever BCCI ombudsman last month as Manohar, in his second term as board president took a stance against the issue of conflict of interest and said Shah would "enjoy the complete freedom and authority like the judicial body."

However, since Shah is an ombudsman he would not have the power to oust a BCCI official. "Even with regard to the administrator, the enquiry (should there be complaints of indiscipline, misconduct against him) would be conducted by the ombudsman," Manohar told the Hindu. "He will submit his report. Because the administrator is a board member, he cannot be removed by the ombudsman. So the Board has to take a call and I don't think when the ombudsman gives a report holding a person guilty, the board would say that 'No, no, he's not guilty.' He will have the last word in conflict of interest issues, but with regard to the administrator, he will submit a report."

Manohar said having an independent authority conduct a probe against an administrator, a disciplinary panel comprised of BCCI officials, would remove the perception of bias. He even presented the case of former IPL chairman Lalit Modi, who was banned by the BCCI in 2010.

Incidentally Manohar was the BCCI president at the time and part of the three-man disciplinary panel that handed Modi the ban. "There should not be even an allegation of bias. In the earlier system three people used to sit on the disciplinary committee; the president was a must with two other members of the board. In Lalit Modi's case, he raised an objection against me that I have a bias against him. Then he raised an objection against Arun Jaitley also and then he raised an argument of bias against Chirayu Amin also. I am not going to give an opportunity to any administrator to say this is a biased enquiry. So now the enquiry will be conducted by an independent person who has nothing to do with the Board."