New Delhi: BCCI president-in-exile N Srinivasan today tendered an "unconditional apology" in the Supreme Court for "breaching" its direction by chairing the Board's working committee meeting on February 8 and deciding to hold its AGM on March 2 to elect new office bearers.
Closing the contempt petition against him, the court allowed Srinivasan to exercise the vote of Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) as its authorised representative in the BCCI election in Chennai.
Srinivasan also gave an undertaking that he will not preside over the March 2 Annual General Meeting or any other such meetings till the time the January 22 judgement prevents him from participating in any decision making meetings.
"I have an instruction to say that I (Srinivasan) will not preside over the meeting. Let it be whosoever who will preside," senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the beleaguered cricket administrator, submitted at the outset before a bench comprising Justices T S Thakur and F M I Kalifulla.
The bench noted the submission of Sibal that "Srinivasan has realised that his act of presiding over the working committee meeting of February 8 was not well advised" and in no way his intention was to defy the court orders.
However, the apex court did not agree with the Cricket Association of Bihar that being the president of the TNCA Srinivasan should be barred from participating in the March 2 AGM for electing new office bearers of the BCCI.
It accepted the submission of Sibal that he can be authorised by the TNCA to vote on its behalf which was valid as per the rules. It was made clear that Srinivsan would not be participating in the AGM as the president of the BCCI or as the president of the TNCA.
"His presence in the AGM if authorised by the TNCA should not be treated as breach of the January 22 judgement," Sibal said.
He said there should be a clear order from the apex court whether Srinivasan was entitled for voting as the authorised representative of the TNCA as he did not want to face further embarrassment of second contempt proceedings.