Bikash Baruah stares at expulsion

ACA's discipliry committee recommends sacking of controversial secretary

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, Jan 3: Bikash Baruah's long and controversial reign over Assam cricket appears to be coming to an end. The discipliry committee of the Assam Cricket Association has found him guilty of wrongdoing in the cheque-holding case and has recommended his expulsion from the cricket body "till he is cleared from all charges".

The recommendation of the discipliry committee will now be placed in the Governing Body meeting slated for January 10 for fil approval.

Meanwhile, a show-cause notice has been slapped on Baruah asking why action should not be taken against him. He has been directed to reply by January 9. Former cricketers of the State, who were up in arms against the controversial sports organizer and have been pressing for his removal, said they were satisfied at the recommendation of the discipliry committee.

However, they felt that all pending cases against Baruah should be pursued and taken to a logical conclusion. "If found guilty in other cases, he should be punished according to the law," they said.

The five-member discipliry committee, lead by Brojen Gohain, today met at the Barsapara cricket stadium and took up Baruah's cheque holding case. The committee found that Baruah had committed a "wrong" by holding 61 cheques issued by BCCI for the State players.

Brojen Gohain didn't receive calls from The Sentinel. But ACA sources said the decision was taken "unimously" as the discipliry committee felt Baruah's act was "highly despicable".  "During the meeting, the committee felt that several cases were pending against Baruah and it was hitting the image of Assam Cricket Association. So, for the betterment of ACA, Baruah should be expelled from all activities of the association. The committee also felt that Baruah is solely responsible for the cheque holding case. He deprived the players from their dues…so the secretary should take the entire responsibility to return the amounts to the players," the source said, quoting details of the meeting.

As many as 61 cheques – amounting to over Rs 12 lakh - were recovered from the drawer of Baruah recently. They were issued by the BCCI in 2010 to State players. The cheques were found while the rooms in the stadium were being cleared for the South Asian Games. "We have been demanding his removal since long. The decision of the discipliry committee proves that we were right," Sajjad Zahir Hussain, a former cricket, told The Sentinel.