Bindra gets a taste of his own 'bitter' medicine

Having set the ball rolling with a volley of potshots against various targets, former BCCI president Inderjit Singh Bindra would have known that his own past would come in for some microscopic scrutiny. He received his deserts at a press conference in Mumbai yesterday where PM Rungta charged that Bindra had caused a loss of crores of rupees to the BCCI during his tenure as president from 1993-96, during which period Rungta himself was chairman of the board's finance committee. "Only a probe by a high powered committee and FERA can bring out the extent of financial damage done by Bindra", he said.

According to Rungta, Bindra inserted several new clauses in the sponsorship contract with Pepsi that could have resulted in a loss of about Rs. 12 to 15 crore, had they been allowed to stand. Rungta also poured scorn on Bindra for questioning the Board's expenditure of almost 36000 pounds during Jagmohan Dalmiya's campaign for the ICC Presidency. "The money was used for legal opinion...every penny has been accounted for and the details are with the board. The board applied to the government and got the foreign exchange officially", he said. Instead Rungta suggested that Bindra should be made to account for the 7,500 pounds he had taken during the same period "on the plea of attending meetings in connection with the ICC Presidency and entertaining various ICC associate members" and for which he failed to produce any bills.

In connection with the awarding of television rights to Prasar Bharati during Bindra's reign, Rungta claimed that Bindra had congratulated the Marketing Committee of the BCCI for the decision, only to later 'allege that there was something hanky-panky in it'. "That is why I said that he needed to go to a psychiatrist for examination", Rungta rubbed in. "The list of financial irregularities by Bindra is long and I am coming out with only a few. I would come out with others shortly", affirmed Rungta. "Even now, when he is not invited for matches in Sharjah, he goes with his entourage over there. It is surprising that a person like him, who is an IAS officer and works at secretariat level, can afford to go to Sharjah every year. It really baffles me", Rungta observed. Clearly the exchange is getting nastier by the day.

Meanwhile Bindra told a newspaper that he has completed a report, focusing mainly on the bungling in the grant of telecast rights for cricket matches, which he will presenting to the CBI. "The real corruption lies in grant of telecast rights,'' Bindra said. He however added that the report deals with match-fixing as well but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Bindra, currently the chairman of the PCA, said the report will be taken up for clearance by the PCA on Sunday before being submitted to the CBI.