MPCA Ombudsman approves Chandrakant Pandit's appointment as head coach
Nov 26, 2020
New Delhi [India], November 26 : The battle between the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) office bearers and its cricket committee with regards to the appointment of Chandrakant Pandit as the Ranji Trophy team's head coach has finally ended. MPCA Ombudsman Justice (Retd.) Ashok Kumar Tiwari has given his verdict in the matter and has found no faults in the former cricketer's appointment to the post.
The issue escalated when four months into Pandit's appointment as head coach, the MPCA cricket committee -- Prashant Dwivedi, Yogesh Golwalkar and Murtuza Ali -- disapproved the move and said that they were neither consulted nor did they appoint the former cricketer for the role.
Pandit is one of the most celebrated coaches on the domestic circuit and was offered the role of head coach by three teams before he took up the offer with MPCA.
The cricket committee referred to the provisions of the constitution and pointed that the head coach's appointment is the sole responsibility and privilege of the committee.
With the situation going out of hand, MPCA secretary Sanjeev Rao submitted raised the issue with the ombudsman for adjudication on three issues: (1) Dispute regarding appointment of Chandrakant Pandit (2) Unprofessional conduct of cricket committee in relation to appointment of other coaches and (3) Cricket committee refusing to comply with the interpretation of the constitution given by the president.
The ombudsman in a detailed order adjudicated on the complaint and deliberated that the cricket committee proposed and suggested names of four coaches, of which one could be appointed. The association appointed Pandit who was one of the four names shortlisted by the committee. Therefore there was no issue with the appointment of Pandit as the committee was involved in the process.
On the issue of appointment of other coaches for state teams, the ombudsman observed that there has been an unnecessary delay and looking at the approach, he asked the committee to take proactive measures to get the required appointments done at the earliest in the interest of cricket in the state.
With regards to the interpretation of provisions of the constitution, it has been held by the ombudsman that as per the provisions of the constitution only the president has the authority to interpret the constitution.
