RCA polls: SC defers Lalit Modi`s fate till March 25

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred the results of the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) elections for the fifth time, in which the former Indian Premier League (IPL) czar Lalit Modi has also contested for its presidential post. Now the next hearing on the matter is on March 25. The declaration of the results have already got postponed four times in the past. Earlier, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had said that Modi was a clear winner of the RCA election results, even before the official announcement from the apex court. The cricket board said that Modi had won 26 of 33 votes but requested the Supreme Court to not officially open the result. However, the Supreme Court on January 27 adjourned the hearing and delayed the announcement of the polls. A bench of Justice Anil R Dave and Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, which was to open the envelope that contained the results and the report of Justice NM Kasliwal, under whose supervision the polls were held, said the court would open it on March 4. But on March 4, SC postponed the announcement of the results for the fourth time as the BCCI asked for a postponement citing the unavailability of Aryma Sundaram, their lead counsel. The decision was then deferred till March 11. The RCA chief Kishore Rungta and the BCCI had already filed a Special Leave Petition opposing Modi`s return as RCA president. As cricket`s apex body, the BCCI urged the apex court to hear their petition before opening the envelope and declaring the result. But the court said it would first see the results and if Modi wins, then before declaring the results, it would hear the BCCI otherwise there would be no need. As the BCCI counsel pressed for the board`s plea to be heard, the court wondered if Modi was so powerful that he would certainly get elected. The RCA election courted controversy after Modi joined the race for the post of the president of the state`s cricketing body. The BCCI in September 2013 had imposed a life ban on Modi for alleged irregularities when he headed the IPL from 2008 to 2010. The RCA elections were held Dec 19, 2013, under the watch of the apex court-appointed former judge NM Kasliwal.