Till three years ago, Sanjeev Gupta's name and presence was limited to Indore—the headquarters of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, of which he is a life member. Today, he is synonymous with the 'conflict of interest' clause in Indian cricket. From Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, V.V.S. Laxman, Rahul Dravid, to Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad, Shantha Rangaswamy, Gautam Gambhir, and Sandeep Patil, everyone have got a taste of the conflict of interest (CoI) medicine.
Administrators in other cricket associations, too, have not been spared. BCCI Ethics Officer Justice (Retd) D.K. Jain has been busy, thanks to a series of complaints by Gupta on violations of the CoI clause.
Rangaswamy is the latest former cricketer to quit from the Cricket Advisory Committee approved by the CoA after getting a notice for the same from Justice Jain. "CAC meets once in three years. If they continue like this, I don't know where things are headed," she said after announcing her decision.
Tendulkar had resigned from the previous CAC during the hearing itself. Justice Jain, known to be a stickler for the law, is set to pronounce his verdict on Dravid's alleged conflict of interest as director of National Cricket Academy and his position in India Cements, the company which owns Chennai Super Kings team in IPL.
Even as BCCI and state associations work towards holding their respective general body meetings and holding elections as per the Lodha Committee recommendations, Gupta's advent on the horizon has added a twist to the tale. Who is Gupta? An activist, lawyer, cricketer, administrator or just an individual obsessed with a sole objective?
According to THE WEEK's sources, he is based in Indore and is well known in the cricketing circles of the city as well as in the MPCA. A businessman with a sharp memory, Gupta knows every line, para and page of the Lodha Committee recommendations, having studied them minutely since they came into force three years ago. He was, reportedly, brought into the MPCA as life member having caught the eye of former BCCI and MPCA secretary Sanjay Jagdale, playing for the latter's club CCI in Indore. A witness to administration of cricket from close quarters in the state, Gupta was later sidelined by MPCA's dominant group. A loner, he maintained a low profile till the reforms process arrived in Indian cricket. Since then he has taken it upon himself to ensure that the Lodha Committee recommendations are followed by the CoA, BCCI, state associations, players and administrators in letter and spirit. In fact, he had even filed complaints against former MPCA president Jyotiraditya Scindia and other officials close to him.
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He declines to be quoted and is wary of interactions. But, as is required by the procedures laid down in the new BCCI constitution, he is present in person wherever a hearing based on his complaint is taken up.
In one of his complaints to the CoA, a copy of which is also marked to Justice Jain, against former BCCI COO Prof. Ratnakar Shetty, dated September 6, 2019, a copy of which is available with THE WEEK, Gupta accused CoA of not taking cognisance of his complaints. "(sic) I am tired of writing , please / request / kindly / , Please once for all understand that I am not begging in front of you for anything for myself , I have never written single alphabet for myself ever & will never write & will not leave any stone unturn for 100 % compliance .....You are decimating Lodha reforms by not enforcing 100 % compliance , only ensuring BCCI & state Constitution to be at par with Lodha reforms is / will not serve any purpose till you enforce 100 % Compliance , else Lodha reforms will remain in rule book / constitution only ."
Seeking 100 per cent compliance, Gupta has also written to BCCI Electoral Officer N. Gopalaswami ahead of the cricket Board elections on October 23. In his letter to the former chief election commissioner of India, copies of which were marked to all CoA members and Justice Jain on June 15, Gupta prepared a summary of the recommendations to help him understand the gist of the reforms and the possible violations. " (sic) I can very well understand that Respected Justice Lodha Sir took 2 years to prepare report , Honorable Apex court took year/s to pass the judgment , it is not at all feasible for you & for Respected BCCI Ombudsman & Ethics Officer sir & Respected BCCI CoA to understand the BCCI Constitution in few days / weeks , hence prepared the said summary for you all....My again humble request to you all for ensuring 100 % implementation & compliance of apex court verdict so that Not a single disqualified / In cooling Off Period / conflicted individual/s is/shall be given/ appointed / elected / nominated at any post , what so ever by BCCI , State Associations , IPL Franchise & TV Broadcasters."
Gupta may be in the limelight as a cricket 'evangelist' and the latest 'thorn in the side' of Indian cricket administrators and players after Aditya Verma—the Bihar cricket board secretary who took on N. Srinivasan, but he has certainly put both cricket officials and players in a spot. It is also nearly certain that some changes to the CoI clause could be in the offing either by the Supreme Court or post BCCI elections in the newly registered constitution of the Board.
