DDCA member files conflict of interest plea in High Court against administrator Vikramajit Sen

Meanwhile, another DDCA member, in an email to Sen, has questioned his decision to send Mrinalini to attend a BCCI function and an IPL meeting. In his plea in the high court alleging conflict of interest, Dinesh Kumar Sharma, a former DDCA joint secretary and current member, has said that Mrinalini has been “animatedly involved in the affairs of the DDCA on a daily basis. So much so that she has been travelling with Justice Sen to BCCI meetings at Mumbai and other places regarding DDCA matters and has been issuing instructions to DDCA employees and reprimanding them as their de facto boss… The conflict of interest is more glaring and brazen because of the fact that the Delhi government (GNCTD) has instituted an enquiry against the DDCA for which Justice Sen’s daughter Mrinalini Sen happens to be a panel advocate.”

In his email to Sen on Friday, Siddharth Sahib Singh, DDCA’s cricket operations head, said: “It is empathetic (sic) that no cricketer or member of DDCA represented DDCA in BCCI meetings and ceremonies. It was deemed appropriate to send one tender committee member appointed by you and Ms Mrinalini Sen Gupta to the Annual MAK Pataudi lecture and prize distribution ceremony hosted by BCCI in Bangalore, ignoring the invaluable contributions by the cricketers, selectors and persons who have assisted in managing the state of affairs in DDCA since December 2015. It would have been most appropriate to send some of our outstanding performers in domestic cricket this year for the said events.”

Justice Sen, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, confirmed to The Indian Express that Mrinalini attended the M A K Pataudi lecture in Bengaluru on March 7 and the IPL organising committee meeting in Mumbai on February 17 on his behalf as he was unable to travel on “short notice”. “I am the court-appointed administrator. The allegation that I have put my daughter in charge is scurrilous and may even amount to contempt of court. In order to fulfil my role as the court-appointed administrator, which is a formidable and time-consuming task, I have taken the assistance of four lawyers who are associated with me (including Mrinalini Sen). All decisions regarding DDCA are mine and all my associates are assisting me with the execution of decisions that I have taken. These allegations are being levelled by vested interests,” Justice Sen said in an email reply.

“I understand that an application has been filed in the hon’ble court alleging that there is a conflict of interest since my daughter is a panel lawyer for GNCTD (Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi). I leave it to the hon’ble high court to decide this aspect and accordingly it is inappropriate for me to respond on this aspect,” he said.

“With respect to attending the M A K Pataudi Lecture, I made a conscious decision on 7th March 2017, one day prior to the event, to ensure the presence of DDCA in the light of several state associations deliberately refusing to attend the function. I was unable to travel at such short notice and I requested Venkat Sundaram and Mrinalini Sen to attend it at the eleventh hour on my behalf,” he said.

“The only other meeting that she (Mrinalini) attended on my behalf along with Mr Salil Seth from the IPL organising committee, was a meeting on 17th February at Mumbai, which was again confirmed a day prior to their travel since I was unavailable,” he said. He said Siddharth Sahib Singh was sent for the National Cricket Academy meeting on March 9-10. While Mrinalini refused to comment on her appointment, she said she would not attend the IPL final between Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiant in Hyderabad on Sunday.