UNDER THE SCANNER

CoA rule change on govt staffers under scanner

by Arani Basu • Last updated on

It has emerged that two siblings are playing for two different states as locals. © Getty

In a fresh attack on the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary has questioned a mid-season rule change which enables wards of government employees to switch state teams by passing off as local players.

It has emerged that two siblings are playing for two different states as locals. In a letter, treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry has mentioned the case of Pratyush Singh, who has moved to Tripura citing the transfer of his father Rajiv Singh, joint director (A), CBI, posted as ADGP (law and order), Tripura in May this year. The 24-year-old Pratyush played age-group cricket in Delhi before moving to Jharkhand as a professional two seasons ago. His younger brother Utkarsh, however, continues to play for Jharkhand.

It was decided in October that "wards of government employees on transfer shall be eligible to play as a local player for the state/ association in which the govt employee has been transferred/posted subject to submission of the parent transfer order". The one-year norm as mentioned is relaxed for the wards of the government employee only.

Choudhary, in his email to BCCI GM (cricket ops) Saba Karim, claimed that the BCCI officials were kept in the dark about the move. He also pointed out that the decision benefited only two people out of a set of nearly 1100 Ranji Trophy players.

"There is another recent case of a boy moving to Puducherry. When the rule was changed and the letter was circulated among the office-bearers, it was clearly mentioned that the decision was taken by the CoA," a source close to developments told TOI.

© TNN