Jaipur: Despite being suspended by the BCCI, the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) has claimed that it has the right to be a part of the crucial AGM to be held on March 2nd in Chennai. Mehmood Abdi, the permanent representative of RCA in BCCI, said that voting right is one of the fundamental rights in democracy and it can't be taken away from any member.
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Abdi on Saturday submitted a letter to the BCCI regarding the authorisation of RCA representative to attend the BCCI AGM but claimed that Parag Patel, Special Assistant to BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel, refused to give a receipt of the communication at the BCCI office in Chennai. Talking to PTI, Abdi said that BCCI have every right to punish RCA by stopping its grants etc. but it cannot take away its right to be a part of the AGM.
"The BCCI has suspended us after we chose Lalit Modi as our president and since then they have suspended us and stopped our grants and did not include us in the domestic calendar until the intervention of the Rajasthan High Court. They can punish us in any way they want but voting is our fundamental right. They need to have two third majorities to do so. The AGM will be a crucial one for Indian cricket and we have the right to be there and vote," said Abdi.
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Incidentally, the Modi-led faction of RCA was granted a sigh of relief by Rajasthan High Court on Friday as it refused to extend the dead line given to Amin Pathan for bringing in the no confidence motion against President Lalit Modi and three other top office bearers.
The Pathan group had claimed that it removed Modi and other three top office bearers in a coup but Abdi and few others had challenged the claim by moving court.
The High Court had allowed the Rajasthan teams to participate in the domestic BCCI tournaments and gave the charge of RCA's day to day affairs to Rajasthan state Sports Council, making Taposh Chatterjee, the coordinator between RCA and BCCI.
The court also later set March 12 as the deadline to complete the formalities of bringing in the no confidence motion and had ordered that if the Pathan group fails to bring in a no confidence motion or it is defeated, the Modi Group would automatically get the reigns of the RCA.
On the other hand, Shakti Singh Rathore, the Secretary of the Pathan-led faction, had already issued a notice for EGM to be held on 9th March. The Sports Council President had pleaded that since it was busy in other matters, it was not in a position to hold the EGM of RCA but the court on Friday had refused to extend the deadline of 12th March.
