DDCA directors say ombudsman can’t reinstate Rajat Sharma

Tribune News Service 

New Delhi, November 19

Nine Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) directors, including the ousted secretary Vinod Tihara, have targeted ombudsman Badar Durrez Ahmed for acting beyond his powers.

Ahmed, the former Chief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir High Court, put in abeyance the resignation of DDCA president Rajat Sharma, also of CEO Ravi Chopra, CFO PC Vaish and GM (operations) Manvi Dhodhi. “All these persons who had tendered their resignations shall continue to discharge their duties in the interest of the game of cricket,” he said in his order released late on Sunday night. “No further resolution in this regard will be sought to be passed by the members of the Apex Council without the permission of the Ombudsman and without following proper procedure.”

The directors who oppose Sharma have criticised Ahmed. “How can he order to keep all the resignations in abeyance?” said Ravinder Manchanda, an advisory council member. “This is a clear case of him exceeding his brief of an ombudsman. We never asked the president to resign. All we did was to take back the same power that was given to him through a majority vote.”

‘Biased’

Another director, Sanjay Bharadwaj, attacked Ahmed for ignoring their grouses while acting immediately on complaints filed by Sharma and supporters. “I have written so many mails to him and I am yet to receive an acknowledgment. But here he has released an order putting their resignations in abeyance around 11pm in the night acting on a frivolous complaint. It appears he is not acting on our complaints,” he said. Interestingly, the DDCA directors also claimed that CEO Ravi Chopra had originally resigned from his post on November 4, which was accepted by Rajat Sharma.