RCA elections postponed due to dispute between two groups

Jaipur: The elections of the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) have been postponed because of the dispute between the two warring factions.

Two parallel elections were announced by secretary Sanjay Dixit and the officiating secretary K K Sharma, scheduled for 23rd and 24th November here. Retired Judge Hon`ble Justice N M Kasliwal who was appointed as principal observer by the Supreme Court to conduct the upcoming elections of Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) heard both factions and decided to postpone the elections owing to various disputes. "The elections of the RCA have been postponed. I heard various opinions and would listen to the objections on next hearing date 26th November and then would decide the further course of actions," Kasliwal, who was also the chief observer of the previous RCA elections in 2008 and 2009, said. The supporters of former IPL commissioner and former president Lalit Modi and the group headed by central minister and RCA president C P Joshi are on a war path. Lalit Modi`s counsel, Mehmood Abdi demanded that the elections should be started afresh. "Election Officer appointed by the officiating secretary K K Sharma was acting in arbitrary and partisan manner and was deciding the dispute with regard to the eligibility to vote by himself. We have asked Justice Kasliwal to start the process afresh and appoint neutral elections officers preferably a retired Judicial Officer because deciding the eligibility in the elections is a complex procedure," said Abdi, who is president of the Ganganagar District Cricket Association. Abdi also claimed that Modi was also eligible for contesting the RCA elections despite being suspended for life by the BCCI and debarred from taking any post in the affiliated units. "BCCI is a registered body and have its own bye laws but Rajasthan have its own Sports Act in existence. Modi, who is president of Nagaur Cricket Association, can fight the RCA elections. He has also attended the AGM and various other meetings through video conferencing and other modes so he can?t be stopped on other technical grounds," he added. In an interim order, a bench of justices A R Dave and Dipak Misra said Justice Kasliwal will be assisted by former Rajasthan High Court judge Justice S P Pathak and asked them to change the date of election if it is required.