Had already submitted unsold tickets report to late Vilasrao Deshmukh, says Shetty

Top BCCI official Ratnakar Shetty today said he had submitted a report to former Mumbai Cricket Association President, late Vilasrao Deshmukh, explaining the reasons for the 405 unsold tickets at World Cup 2011 final. “It is understandable (that they are inquiring this matter) because the stadium was full but some tickets were unsold. One of the reason for the stadium being full is that there were 5,000 accreditations with volunteers and officials, apart from policemen, who were present. On the 405 tickets unsold, I had submitted a report to Vilasrao Deshmukh on why these tickets were unsold. I have now informed the committee (about the same),” Shetty told reporters here. He added that the inquiry would be good for the association, as they can put forth the problems: “They can discuss about the problems and the steps to solve them like the distribution of complimentaries and tickets. What should be the procedure. I think it is good for the association,” he said. Over 400 tickets of the India-Sri Lanka final, won by the hosts, were left unsold though ‘sold out’ notice boards had been put up at the ticket counters, which had prompted MCA to form the four-member special committee to look into the issue. [caption id=“attachment_908203” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Over 400 tickets of the India-Sri Lanka final, won by the hosts, were left unsold though ‘sold out’ notice boards had been put up at the ticket counters, which had prompted MCA to form the four-member special committee to look into the issue. AFP[/caption] MCA had summoned Ratnakar Shetty, a former MCA vice-president and treasurer, along with former joint secretary Lalchand Rajput, current managing committee member Ganesh Iyer, former managing committee member Shripad Halbe and Pradeep Zaveri, to appear before the four-member inquiry panel. MCA treasurer Mayank Khandwala, who is the convener of the meeting, said the meeting was just a fact finding process: “This was the first meeting in detail and the first time we had called all of them. Only three people attended it. We questioned the three people for fact finding. This is just the start. It will take some time. Shetty, Halbe, Zaveri and three of our auditors had taken time to attend the two hour meeting,” Khandwala said. Khandwala, however, said the loss to MCA’s treasury was not ascertained: “We haven’t ascertained the loss amount and the number of tickets, but the fact finding process is on approximately 405 tickets that were unsold, to find out what was the situation then and how it happened,” he said. Asked why the MCA was probing the matter now after two years when Shetty had already submitted the report, he said, “This is a 2011 matter, but the report was filed somewhere in June or July 2012. Nobody had this report in hand. Then, when the President took charge and a new committee was formed after the demise of Vilasrao Deshmukh, it was then decided to find out facts and inquire into the matter and the four-member panel was set up.” The MCA treasurer said that Shetty could be summoned again to give more information: “He has just briefed the committee and it has noted it. The committee will decide what are the further steps that need to be taken in the process. If required, they will call him for another questioning or more for information than anything else. I can’t talk much about it (the reasons), because the process is on and the matter is sub-judice,” he said. The four-member inquiry panel includes three Bombay High Court advocates — Avinash Rana, Vivek Katawala and Deepak Thakare and former MCA official Ravi Mandrekar. Rana is heading the panel. PTI