COA at wits' end over BCCI's 50-crore land deal
BCCI made a payment of Rs 49.97 crore to the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) in August 2008 - to procure a piece of land in Bengaluru for the NCA and then simply "forgot about the payment".
Among the many things that the Supreme Court-appointed administrators (COA) have been scratching their heads over while overseeing the day-to-day administration of BCCI, one particular case has left them aghast.
The COA, it is learnt, is trying to understand why BCCI made a payment of Rs 49.97 crore to the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) eight-and-half years ago - August 2008 - to procure a piece of land in Bengaluru for the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and then simply "forgot about the payment."
BCCI paid the KIADB Rs 49.97 crore in two instalments - dated 02-08-2008 and 09-04-2010 - to procure on lease 25 acres of land where the NCA could be shifted. The academy lies in the heart of Bengaluru but has to vacate the premises due to the ongoing work on city's upcoming metro services. While the deal was agreed upon by the BCCI and the KIADB, the judicial magistrate ordered that since the land fell in an industrial area, it was inappropriate for a cricket academy to function there and directed the KIADB to allot the cricket board a suitable alternative land.
This opportunity came BCCI's way eight years later on November 4, 2016, when the KIADB wrote to the BCCI - a copy of which is with TOI - informing that 25 acres of land in Plot No. 14, 15 & 16 of Hitech, Defence and Aerospace Park (IT Sector) in Devanahalli - a rural district in Bengaluru - was being allotted for the purpose of academy as an alternative on a 99-year lease.
BCCI failed to react to this letter. The COA finds it "shocking" that BCCI failed to respond in time and act to protect its own money. "Whose money is it any way? They sat on it for so long, for what?" said a source tracking developments.
In its letter, the KIADB states that the sum of Rs 49.97 crore would be adjusted towards tentative premium of the newly-offered land which is Rs 50 crore. A sum of Rs 240,000 (the balance payment) along with Rs 125,000 towards Earnest Money Deposit (Rs 5000 per acre) would have to be paid within 90 days from the date of allotment, i.e. on or before 02-022017. That deadline is now over.
Among the many things that the Supreme Court-appointed administrators (COA) have been scratching their heads over while overseeing the day-to-day administration of BCCI, one particular case has left them aghast.
The COA, it is learnt, is trying to understand why BCCI made a payment of Rs 49.97 crore to the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) eight-and-half years ago - August 2008 - to procure a piece of land in Bengaluru for the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and then simply "forgot about the payment."
BCCI paid the KIADB Rs 49.97 crore in two instalments - dated 02-08-2008 and 09-04-2010 - to procure on lease 25 acres of land where the NCA could be shifted. The academy lies in the heart of Bengaluru but has to vacate the premises due to the ongoing work on city's upcoming metro services. While the deal was agreed upon by the BCCI and the KIADB, the judicial magistrate ordered that since the land fell in an industrial area, it was inappropriate for a cricket academy to function there and directed the KIADB to allot the cricket board a suitable alternative land.
This opportunity came BCCI's way eight years later on November 4, 2016, when the KIADB wrote to the BCCI - a copy of which is with TOI - informing that 25 acres of land in Plot No. 14, 15 & 16 of Hitech, Defence and Aerospace Park (IT Sector) in Devanahalli - a rural district in Bengaluru - was being allotted for the purpose of academy as an alternative on a 99-year lease.
BCCI failed to react to this letter. The COA finds it "shocking" that BCCI failed to respond in time and act to protect its own money. "Whose money is it any way? They sat on it for so long, for what?" said a source tracking developments.
In its letter, the KIADB states that the sum of Rs 49.97 crore would be adjusted towards tentative premium of the newly-offered land which is Rs 50 crore. A sum of Rs 240,000 (the balance payment) along with Rs 125,000 towards Earnest Money Deposit (Rs 5000 per acre) would have to be paid within 90 days from the date of allotment, i.e. on or before 02-022017. That deadline is now over.
Courtesy: The Times of India
