PTI

DENYING CHARGES: Jagmohan Dalmiya talks to the media after presenting his case at a special meeting of the BCCI general body in Jaipur on Saturday.

Jaipur: The former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Jagmohan Dalmiya, was on Saturday expelled from the Board for life and removed from all posts on charges of financial irregularities during his tenure at the helm.

The Special General Body of the BCCI, which met here and heard him on the charges levelled against him, adopted a resolution that expelled him from the Board and barred him from holding any position in any organs of the cricket body, including State associations.

The resolution was adopted 29-2 against him. The Cricket Association of Bengal, of which he is the president, and the National Cricket Club, Kolkata, of which also he is the head, voted in his support. Interestingly, Ranbir Singh Mahendra, once his loyalist, voted against him.

Right to appeal

The 66-year-old Dalmiya, a former president of the International Cricket Council, has been given the right to appeal after three years for inclusion in the Board, BCCI Media Committee member Rajiv Shukla said after the meeting.

"They are all biased"

However, Mr. Dalmiya, who has strongly denied the charges, said he had submitted a 46-page report, which the disciplinary committee did not even read. "They did not even read it. They are all biased. There is no misappropriation. It is only their misinterpretation," he said.

The meeting was presided over by BCCI president and Union Minister Sharad Pawar, with whom Mr. Dalmiya has been having a running battle for over two years now.

Mr. Dalmiya's nominee, Mr. Mahendra, defeated Mr. Pawar in the election to BCCI president's post a couple of years ago but the Union Minister had his last laugh when he won in the election last year. Mr. Dalmiya was accused of producing forged documents and misappropriation of funds to the tune of crores of rupees from the PILCOM accounts, formed for the World Cup 1996 co-hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. BCCI vice-president Shashank Manohar said Mr. Dalmiya was given a fair chance to put up his defence. "We gave him a fair chance. He was heard by a full house. But whatever he said carried no weight," he said.

"There was a 42-page report against him. We cannot go into minute details. But there were serious charges against him."

Asked about CAB's stand that it would not remove Mr. Dalmiya, Mr. Manohar said in that case "we will take action against the State body."

Mr. Shukla said he gave some explanation on the charges levelled against him, which were countered by Treasurer N. Srinivasan, who moved the resolution against Mr. Dalmiya.

Asked whether any action was being planned against Mr. Dalmiya for the alleged financial misconduct, Mr. Shukla said already the Mumbai police were investigating the case. — PTI

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