CoA asks MPCA to keep elections on hold till committee submits next status report to Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Committee of Administrators (COA) has instructed the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) to hold the elections only after the Vinod Rai-headed panel submits it next status report to the Supreme Court. Responding to a MPCA letter seeking clarification on holding fresh elections, the COA wrote: “The Committee of Administrators is in the process of preparing and filing a status report before the Hon’ble Supreme Court with reference to the compliance undertaken by the State Associations in terms of the judgment dated 9 August 2018 (Judgment). [caption id=“attachment_4451351” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of CoA chief Vinod Rai. AFP[/caption] “In terms of paragraph 41 of the Judgment, the Committee of Administrators is at liberty to submit a further report for such future directions as may be warranted and to secure compliance. In the circumstances, you are requested to await directions from the Hon’ble Supreme Court and/or the Committee of Administrators before taking any step towards holding of elections,” stated the COA in letter dated 9 October. Earlier, MPCA secretary Milind Kanmadikar had conveyed to the COA that the state body was ready to hold elections in November as per its amended constitution in line with the Supreme Court orders. “On 20.9.2018 we had submitted to your goodselves a copy of the Constitution of MPCA that was duly amended by the General Body of our Association on 16 September 2018 (in an extra-ordinary meeting as per the provisions of the erstwhile constitution) and subsequently registered with the Registrar of Firms & Societies of Madhya Pradesh on 20 September 2018,” Kanmadikar wrote. “Relying on the text under point no 30 of the ninth status report of your esteemed committee, and several media reports describing the intent of the CoA to hold BCCI elections within 90 days of the judgment delivered by the Hon’ble Supreme Court (i.e. close to mid-November), and in view of the ODI at Indore on 24.10.2018, all facts being a background (to a proposal to the General Body), our General Body, during the said meeting decided that the AGM of the Association be conducted within a period of 21 days after the ODI at Indore (on 24.10.2018). “As a consequence, we are in the process of holding our AGM in the first fortnight of November 2018,” he added. As it turned out, MPCA lost the chance to host the second ODI between India and the West Indies in Indore on 24 October after a dispute over distribution of complimentary passes. The game will now be played in Visakhapatnam.