N Srinivasan refuses to step down despite Supreme Court's remarks - reports

N Srinivasan has reportedly refused to step down from the post of BCCI president

In a move that is quite symptomatic of his usual stubborn self, BCCI president N Srinivasan has refused to step down from his post, despite the Supreme Court asking him to do so.

In a report by NDTV, it is learnt that Srinivasan will not go voluntarily and will wait for the court verdict on Thursday to decide his future course of action.

BCCI vice-president Shivlal Yadav, who has been touted as the man who could take over after Srinivasan’s exit, told NDTV that “BCCI will wait for the top court’s order to decide its future course of action.”

The BCCI chief has been vehemently opposing any kind of public criticism by repeatedly claiming his innocence in the entire corruption scandal that hit Indian cricket in 2013. According to NDTV, Srinivasan had reportedly said “No one can force me out of BCCI. I have done nothing wrong.”

Although the writing is on the wall, Srinivasan refuses to see any of it, as it is fair to assume that post the SC’s verdict on Thursday – the BCCI lawyers would try to find loopholes in the judgement, possibly giving Srinivasan some additional time to hang on to his chair.

This situation is quite similar to what happened in 2004, when the two warring factions of the BCCI led by Jagmohan Dalmiya and Sharad Pawar were in a tightly contested power struggle. Back then, the Madras High Court had passed an order wherein an interim caretaker of the world’s richest cricket board was appointed in the form of retired judge, S Mohan.

However, Mohan was disallowed from entering the BCCI premises on his first day at work and soon the Dalmiya camp got a stay order on the appointment. This move kept Pawar at bay for nearly a year.

The SC on Wednesday had used some scathing words to describe Srinivasan’s actions – calling his desire to cling onto his chair as ‘nauseating’. Nauseating or not, the BCCI chief believes that he still has some cards up his sleeve. How well those cards play out, is a question that can only be answered by the Honorable Supreme Court on Thursday.