Fiery exchanges at MCA’s Apex Council meeting

Dr Unmesh Khanvilkar and Ex-FC player Kiran Powar

The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) Apex Council's marathon four-hour meeting witnessed several heated exchanges among members at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday.

It is learnt that it ended with a couple of resolutions. First, to revoke the appointment of Ethics Officer-cum-Ombudsman - former chief Justice VK Tahilramani - as they felt it was not done according to the MCA constitution.

"The members moved a resolution that the MCA Ethics Officer's appointment be revoked as she was not appointed at the Annual General Meeting according to Clause 39 of the MCA constitution," a source told mid-day.

The other resolution was about handing over charge of overseeing various correspondence between MCA and other parties to Executive Secretary CS Naik instead of Sanjay Naik, the association's elected secretary.

It is also learnt that some Apex Council members urged MCA President Dr Vijay Patil (through a letter) to direct the Executive Secretary to prepare a report on facts regarding conflict of interest issues and cooling off periods for some other members and submit it to the Ombudsman.

Meanwhile, MCA's two current Apex Council members - Dr Unmesh Khanvilkar and Kiran Powar - were disqualified from being part of the association's functioning.

As per the MCA's Ethics Officer-cum-Ombudsman's order, the association's ex-Joint Secretary Khanvilkar should face a cooling off period of three years with immediate effect. A complaint was filed by a club member on October 14 with regards to Khanvilkar's six-year tenure and a conflict of interest issue as his sister Chaitra Khanvilkar was appointed the trainer of the Mumbai women's team. "I respect the decision [order]. I will consult our council for further clarification," Khanvilkar told mid-day.

The other conflict of interest charge is about Kiran Powar's brother Ramesh being Mumbai's head coach when they won the Vijay Hazare Trophy last March. "I will consult the council for the next course of action," said Kiran.