A city civil court has restrained NCP leader and newly appointed president of Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) Sharad Pawar from executing his powers. The order was passed on a petition by BJP leader Gopinath Munde contesting Pawars nomination. The restraint order,however,has been stayed for a week,giving Pawar time to appeal against it in the High Court. Pawar was elected MCA president on October 18 unopposed as Mundes nomination was rejected on the grounds he was not a voter registered in Mumbai. Civil court judge M S Sharma said,As per section 23 of the MCA rules,only committee members have powers to interpret the rules. But here,the election officer and the appellate authority have gone ahead interpreting the rules. While Pawars counsel sought four weeks to file an appeal,Mundes counsel Vivekanand Gupta told the court that in the presidents absence,the vice-president can execute the powers. When Manohar Joshi was the president,he never attended any meetings. Every decision was taken by the then vice-president, Gupta told the court. The court accepted Guptas argument. This is an interim order and the court will now look at other violations that we brought to its notice, Gupta said. Sharma said the petition would be disposed of within three months. A presidents tenure lasts for 18 months. So the court has decided to conclude this petition soon, he said. sukanya.shetty@expressindia.com
