New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) Twenty seven Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) members led by Naveen Jindal and Raman Saluja have written to BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia requesting for fresh elections in the state unit as incumbent president Rohan Jaitley has completed six years in top post and has to go on a mandatory cooling-off as per constitution.
Jindal’s letter also contains signatures of 25 other DDCA members while Saluja has made an appeal separately. Both letters are in possession of PTI.
It must be noted that BCCI still does not come under the purview of National Sports Governance Act and follows the Lodha Committee devised constitution.
As per BCCI constitution any office-bearer who has completed six years in either state unit or BCCI needs to go on a mandatory cooling-off period of three years.
As things stand on Friday, November 13, president Jaitley and treasurer Harish Singla have completed six years having taken charge of November 10, 2020.
As per the letter sent by Saluja, he has appealed for a fresh election.
The letter states: “As per the available DDCA election and tenure records and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website records, Shri Rohan Jaitley and Shri Harish Singla were first elected to the Apex Council of DDCA on 10th November 2020 and have now completed six continuous years in office on 9th November 2026.
“This makes them ineligible to continue to serve on the Apex Council as the DDCA Articles of Association clause 8(4), imposes a mandatory 3 year cooling off period on them. Accordingly, Shri Rohan Jaitley and Shri Harish Singla’s position as an Apex Council Member is infructuous now,” Saluja stated.
He has also appealed that 67-year-old secretary Ashok Sharma, who has served in DDCA Apex Council for nine years before being appointed secretary of state association in 2024, should also go on a cooling off.
Now there remains a grey area whether Apex Council member’s tenure should also be counted.
Jindal, who also enclosed a hand-written authorization note along with signatures of 26 members, wrote: “Under the mandatory governance framework approved by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India (pursuant to the Justice Lodha Committee recommendations) and enshrined in the Constitutions of the BCCI and the DDCA, any office bearer who has held office for two consecutive terms of three years each, or for a cumulative period of six years, is mandated to undergo a compulsory cooling-off period before becoming eligible to contest again.”
“An authorisation letter dated November 12, 2026, duly signed by twenty-six (26) members empowering me to file and pursue this representation on their behalf, is enclosed herewith for your kind perusal and record. We remain hopeful of favourable consideration and expeditious directions in this matter,” Jindal wrote in his letter to Saikia.
Former DDCA secretary Vinod Tihara, who is the leader of the opposition faction, questioned as to why the office bearers are not going on a cooling off period.
“I do not understand that if DDCA runs as per Lodha constitution, what is the reason that Mr Jaitley doesn’t want to go on a cooling off having completed six years,” Tihara told PTI.
Jaitley was unavailable for comment. It is understood that the office bearers will wait for the instructions from the “men who matter in BCCI” before taking a further call.
“The office bearers are perhaps waiting because in case BCCI comes under the National Sports Governance Act, then it will be a welcome relief for all of them and they won’t have to go for a cooling off,” a DDCA official requesting anonymity told PTI. PTI KHS MRM MRM
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.