The Assam Congress on Thursday wrote to Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna alleging that the appointment of the state’s Advocate General Devajit Lon Saikia as the acting secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India was a serious breach of privilege by the holder of a constitutional post.
Devajit Saikia has been the advocate general of Assam since May 2021. He was on December 7 appointed the acting secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, where he had been a joint secretary since October 2022.
He was also appointed as a director of the International Cricket Council, the sport’s global governing body based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He will be part of committees on finance and commercial affairs, and human resources and remuneration.
In the letter to the chief justice, Assam’s Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia said on Thursday that Devajit Saikia had been given secretarial powers in India’s apex cricket authority despite him being the advocate general of Assam.
The advocate general has the right to participate in the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly, including in committees of the Legislature, the Assam Congress said. This makes the advocate general an Assembly member without voting rights.
The Leader of Opposition alleged that Devajit Saikia had violated the privileges of the House by taking up a secretarial position along with a position of director, “which has several pecuniary and financial benefits by a foreign organisation [International Cricket Council] and a non-governmental organisation [the BCCI] in violation of the principles of ‘Office of Profit’”.
The Opposition leader also cited Rule 48 of the Bar Council of India Rules under the 1961 Advocates Act, which states an advocate may become a director or chairperson of a company “with or without any ordinary sitting fee, provided none of his duties are of an executive character”.
The Congress noted that the rule states: “An advocate shall not be a managing director or a secretary of any company”.
Devajit Saikia had “violated the cardinal rule” of advocates by accepting the position at the Indian cricket authority, where “he took the duty of a secretary of a company”, the Congress alleged. The Opposition party stated that the Board of Control for Cricket in India is a registered society under the 1975 Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act and that Devajit Saikia would be involved in “duties of the nature of executive” as per a characterisation made by the Supreme Court judgement in a 2015 case.
The appointment of the advocate general as a board member of the International Cricket Council was also “questionable as he must not hold any position of employment with a member state as per ICC Articles and Memorandum of Association”, the Congress claimed.
Being the advocate general of Assam, Devajit Saikia was in violation of International Cricket Council’s rules, the Opposition said.
Devajit Saikia had in December 2018 resigned as the senior additional advocate general of Assam to make himself eligible to contest for the post of Assam Cricket Association secretary as per the eligibility rules of the sports body at the time, the Congress said. The norms barred persons holding public office from contesting for any office bearer position of the association.
Devajit Saikia rejected the allegations and said that the Leader of Opposition had either not been properly briefed about the law regarding office of profit or had been misguided.
“If you look at the constitution of the ICC and BCCI, it is clear that these are all honorary positions, not offices of profit,” he told The Indian Express. “Secondly, the post of AG is not subject to disqualification on grounds of Office of Profit in any case.”
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