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Rahul Dravid backed by CoA, opposition stands ground
The BCCI will not formally upload the Ethics Officer’s directives as per new norms. Only the Ombudsman’s decisions are up for public disclosure.
While the Committee of Administrators (CoA) backed Rahul Dravid during his deposition in front of BCCI Ethics Officer DK Jain on Thursday, it is learnt that the opposing party also made a strong case.
CoA chairman Vinod Rai, in a letter to the Ethics Officer, cited two examples, including that RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, where a person’s leave of absence from an organisation is not seen in conflict. Meanwhile, according to the sources, the opposing party repeatedly reminded the Ethics Officer of the fact that Dravid is an employee of India Cements, which owns the Chennai Super Kings. Mere taking a leave of absence won’t solve the issue and if Dravid has to continue in his role of National Cricket Academy (NCA), he will have to resign from India Cements to be free of any conflict.
“The CoA chief had written a note before the deposition that they feel if Dravid has taken a ‘Leave of Absence’, then he is not in conflict. He cited examples of former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, who took leave of absence from his teaching role at the University of Chicago,” a senior BCCI official told PTI.
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“The CoA note also cited Arvind Panagariya’s example. The former vice-chairman of the NITI Aayog was on leave from Columbia University. In both cases, the gentlemen in question held very sensitive government positions and were not taking any remuneration from their previous employers,” the official said.
But it was argued that Dravid and Rajan’s case are completely different with latter not much of a conflict. The charges were made against Dravid by Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association life member Sanjeev Gupta. In his complaint to the ethics officer, Gupta stated that “Just mere ‘leave without pay’ from India Cements will not save him from the clutches of Rule 38(4).”
It is learnt that the involved parties won’t be required to file further replies in the case as Jain is happy with how the deposition went and will announce his judgment in next few days. Dravid didn’t reveal what had transpired during the meeting.
