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Office of the BCCI Ombudsman Application No 34 of 2016 Applicant: Anonymous Order 1. This application, numbered as Application No. 34 of 2016, received by the Ombudsman as an anonymous communication on 14 May 2016, pertains to various persons associated with the Karnataka State Cricket Association (“KSCA”). 2. The Applicant makes certain allegations against various officials for violating Rule 6.4.2 of the BCCI Conflict of Interest Rules – Mr. Brijesh Patel, Mr. Raghuram Bhat, Mr. B.K. Ravi, Mr. Dodda Ganesh, Mr. L. Prashanth, Mr. N. Girish, Mr. J Arun Kumar, Mr. Mansur Ali Khan, Mr. Somashekar Siriguppi, Mr. Rajesh Kamath, Mr. Yere Gowda, and Mr. Venkatesh Prasad. The Ombudsman had already taken notice of the complaints against Mr. Brajesh Patel (Application No. 5 of 2015), Mr. Venkatesh Prasad (Application No. 31 of 2016) and Mr. J. Arun Kumar (Application No. 33 of 2016), which are therefore, not the subject matter of this order. 3. The Applicant’s allegations against the following persons is as follows: a. Mr. B.K. Ravi – He is a member of the Managing Committee, owns a Cricket Academy and an employee at the Accountant General’s Office at the Government of India. b. Mr. L. Prashanth – He is simultaneously drawing salaries as an accountant in the Accountant General’s Office in the Government of India and as the Pitch Curator at KSCA. c. Mr. Mansoor Ali Khan – He is the KSCA Ranji Team Coach apart from also working in Canara Bank. d. Mr. Somashekar Siriguppi – He gets a salary as a Director in KSCA and from Canara Bank. e. Mr. Rajesh Kamath – He gets a salary as a Director in KSCA whilst also getting pension from KSCA as an ex-Ranji player. f. Mr. Yere Gowda – Apart from being a Selector in the under 16 KSCA category, he also has a private academy and works with the Railway Ministry. Mr. Gowda, in reply, clarified that he was not a member of any of the selection committee for any of the age groups of KSCA nor did he own any private academy. 4. Each of these six Respondents filed their replies. Having perused their replies, the Ombudsman is satisfied that there is no case of conflict of interest. Hence, the complaint against them is dismissed. 5. Mr. Dodda Ganesh and Mr. N. Girish, despite the Ombudsman’s email dated 06 June 2016 seeking their comments in the captioned application by 20 June 2016, the Office of the Ombudsman has yet to receive any reply. 6. Thus, last opportunity is given to Mr. Ganesh and Mr. Girish to reply to the captioned application within 10 days, i.e. by 16 July 2016. If they fail to reply, the Ombudsman will be constrained to proceed to decide the Application No. 34 against them ex parte. 7. The allegation against Mr. Raghuram Bhat is that he is a member of the Managing Committee; Member, Chairman/Selector for U-16 and U- 14; and works in the Brijesh Patel Cricket Academy and the IDBI Academy. 8. Mr. Bhat in his reply sent on 19 June 2016 clarified that he did not draw any salary from the Brijesh Patel Cricket Academy or the IDBI Bowling Foundation, and was only reimbursed his travelling and dearness allowance by the Academy. 9. Rule 2(C) of the BCCI Rules on Conflict of Interest clearly stipulates that “Cricketers appointed as Coaches of Indian Teams or National Selectors shall not be associated with any private coaching academies during their tenure”. It is thus clear that selectors cannot be associated with any cricket academy, regardless of whether they accept any salary. It is thus a clear case of conflict of interest. 10. The Ombudsman therefore directs KSCA to ask Mr. Raghuram Bhat to forthwith dissassociate himself from both the Brijesh Patel Cricket Academy and the IDBI Bowling Foundation. In the event that Mr. Bhat decides to continue his association with either academy, or any other cricket academy, then he cannot continue in his position as a Chairman/Selector of the U-16 team. 11. By virtue of this common order, the Application is partially disposed of. Justice (Retd.) AP Shah BCCI Ombudsman 06 July 2016 .

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