Pawar in trouble? HC takes up perjury case

Kolkata: It's the BCCI versus Jagmohan Dalmiya. Now, the former cricket board chief has filed an FIR against the BCCI's top brass accusing them of embezzlement.

Dalmiya filed the case against Sharad Pawar and Niranjan Shah among others. He has accused the cricket body of misappropriating funds of Rs 240 crores in a television rights deal.

The Calcutta High Court will now be hearing the case of the 18th of April. Dalmiya's retaliation comes just two days after he was arrested and then released on anticipatory bail in Mumbai. He was facing charges of misappropriating funds to the tune of 2.9 crore rupees during the 1996 world cup.

PTI adds:

The Calcutta High Court on Friday took up a perjury case filed by Jagmohan Dalmiya against BCCI and its president Sharad Pawar for allegedly producing false documents before the court.

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police has also filed an over 5,500-page charge-sheet against Dalmiya and two others after investigating the case filed by the BCCI.

The perjury case was filed by Dalmiya on July 20, 2007 on the day the High Court had declared that his suspension from the board was illegal.

The former top boss of Indian cricket had alleged in the perjury case under Section 340 of Criminal Procedure Code that the Board had submitted false documents before the court.

Apart from the board and Pawar, the perjury case was filed against Niranjan Shah, Shashank Manohar and Chirayu Amin - all top functionaries of the present BCCI management.

Dalmiya's lawyer Arindam Banerjee alleged that the Board had placed forged documents before the High Court regarding condonation of time of application for the registration of an amendment to BCCI's Clause V of Rule 38, which relates to punitive action against a member of the Board.

He claimed the Board had wrongly claimed to have got permission from the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration body to register the amendment at a later date.

Stating that an amendment must be registered with TNSRA within three months, Dalmiya's lawyer claimed that the application for condonation of delay was filed six years after the amendment was made in September, 2000.

It was applied for only after the suspension of Dalmiya, Banerjee claimed. Dalmiya had been suspended by the Board on December 16, 2006, and subsequently forced to resign from the post of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president.

The former Indian cricket boss challenged the BCCI's punitive action against him before the Calcutta High Court, which after hearing out case, termed the suspension illegal on July 20, 2007.

It was during the hearing of this case before the high court that the Board had produced false documents, Dalmiya alleged.