The BCCI’s efforts in trying to grill Jagmohan Dalmiya over the PILCOM account controversy seems to have been stalled for the moment, again. Hearing the case regarding the Board’s intention to question the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president over financial irregularities in the 1996 World Cup accounts, the Calcutta City Civil Court today handed Dalmiya a 24-day cushion. The court gave Sharad Pawar & Co a seven-day deadline to furnish before Dalmiya the necessary documents that the CAB boss has been seeking to look into for some time now. The court then ruled that Dalmiya would get a 10-day timeframe to submit his reply to the BCCI arguing his case, following which the Board will get another seven days to fix a date for Dalmiya to appear before its disciplinary committee. Interestingly, as the case came up in court, for the first time Dalmiya acquiesced to appearing for the disciplinary committee comprising BCCI president Pawar and vice-presidents Chirayu Amin and Shashank Manohar.The Board, meanwhile, is optimistic at the prospect of Dalmiya agreeing to appear for the hearing although the CAB chief can’t be grilled for the next 24 days. Speaking to The Indian Express over phone, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said: “Yes, we heard the court’s ruling, and we heard that Dalmiya has agreed to appear before the (disciplinary) committee. We are really forward to it all, and we are ready to provide all the documents that the court wants us to show him.”
