Imran Ansari (R) though dismissed suggestions that his election to the post of JKCA president was in violation of SC order. (Source: JK Police)
A day after the Supreme Court accepted Lodha committee recommendations barring ministers and bureaucrats from becoming part of cricket administration, Jammu and Kashmir sports minister Imran Ansari was elected president of the state cricket association.
To conduct the election the Jammu Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) even shifted the venue from Srinagar to a star hotel in Jammu, which according to one elected office-bearer, was done in view of the ongoing violence in the Valley.
Ansari, though, dismissed suggestions that his election to the post of JKCA president was in violation of Supreme Court orders, claiming that the Lodha committee recommendations are to be implemented in six months’ time.
The election was conducted despite the court of Munsif Sub Registrar, Srinagar, restraining JKCA from electing its new office-bearers following a petition filed by United Cricket Club. The hearing is scheduled for July 25. Asked about it, Ansari denied any knowledge. “I have just come from Srinagar and I have not read the newspapers,” he said.
Former bureaucrat and senior PDP leader Mehboob Iqbal was elected chairman of JKCA, businessman Iqbal Shah was elected general secretary while former cricketer Abdul Rouf became the treasurer.
