Dalmiya appointed patron-in-chief

Jagmohan Dalmiya arrives for the meeting © Getty Images

Jagmohan Dalmiya was today appointed the patron-in-chief of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), a position created with the sole objective of keeping him in office after his present term as president expires on September 29. The decision was taken unanimously at a special general body meeting of the board in Chennai despite a litigation challenging the move pending disposal.

A Bhopal court, which is hearing a petition by Yogesh Khattar, a member of the local cricket association, had passed an interim order asking the BCCI to refrain taking any decision contrary its rules. However, the board went ahead with the meeting after obtaining legal opinion from its own counsel, the Press Trust of India reported. The court is due to hear the petition again on Monday.

While the powers for the new patron-in-chief will be decided at the annual general meeting of the BCCI, Dalmiya is expected to represent India at the ICC and play a prominent role in negotiating various rights of the board.

Regulation 8 of the BCCI's charter empowers the board to invite at its discretion a distinguished person to be a patron or patron-in-chief. But the petitioner had argued that Dalmiya "could not invite himself to a meeting of the board as a distinguished member".

The special general body meeting had been convened by S K Nair, the board secretary, on special requisition by 17 affiliated members of the board and the original resolutions sought to invite Dalmiya to be the board's patron-in-chief till 2007 and to confer on him power to represent BCCI in "international cricket for a including the ICC and Asian Cricket Council" and entitle him attend all board meetings in a non-voting capacity.