HC orders initiation of criminal proceedings against six BCCI officials

Board of Control for Cricket in IndiaAs per the Calcutta High Court order, criminal proceedings will be initiated against six BCCI officials - including the president, Shashank Manohar, and former president Sharad Pawar - for filing a false affidavit, in a case of alleged perjury involving Jagmohan Dalmiya's expulsion from the Indian board.

The remaining four Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials include Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty; former secretary Niranjan Shah; Secretary N Srinivasan; and junior Cricket Committee Chairman Chirayu Amin.

The court order is the latest twist in Dalmiya's bitter rivalry with the current BCCI administration. Dalmiya has been fighting various legal battles since his expulsion in 2006, and had filed a case against the six officials alleging that the documents, relating to his expulsion, were false and were intended at mislead the court.

Justice Nadira Patherya passed the order for initiation of criminal proceedings at an appropriate court, under Section 195 of the Criminal Procedure Code - dealing with prosecution for contempt of lawful authority of public servants for offences against public justice, and for offences relating to documents given in evidence.

Apart from the perjury case, there is another case being heard in a Mumbai metropolitan court, relating to alleged embezzlement of funds during the World Cup of 1996. Those charges were levelled by the BCCI after Sharad Pawar took over as president in 2005. Dalmiya had used his casting vote to help his nominee, Ranbir Singh Mahendra, defeat Pawar in the BCCI presidential election in 2004, but Pawar won the next year.

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