Shillong, Jun 29: The special general meeting (SGM) of the Meghalaya Cricket Association (MCA) will go ahead on July 3 despite MCA President James Sangma declaring it “redundant”.
The meeting had been called for on Saturday by MCA Honorary Secretary Rayonald Kharkamni. Later that same day Sangma suspended Kharkamni over the sexual harassment scandal that rocked the association and declared that the SGM was therefore redundant.
However, Sangma appears to be in a minority in the Apex Council. Yesterday, Vice-President Rajiv Bareh and Joint Secretary A Mebanphira Swer declared that the President had overstepped his authority by moving to suspend Kharkamni without going through the Apex Council first.
Today, in a new statement, this time signed by “concerned members of the Apex Council”, Sangma was further criticised. The statement was addressed to members, affiliated units and the cricketing fraternity and shared with the press.
“It is a matter of deep constitutional concern that, within the space of 48 hours, the President of this association has, entirely on his own authority and without the knowledge, consultation or approval of the Apex Council, suspended an elected Honorary Secretary; dismissed the head coach and team manager (of the U-23 women’s team, which he also did on Saturday); declared a validly convened special general meeting redundant; and personally written to the BCCI President attaching his unilateral orders as though they represent the institutional decisions of the association,” they charged. “Not one of these actions was placed before the Apex Council for collective deliberation. Not one of these actions followed the constitutional procedures prescribed under the MCA constitution. The President has acted as though the Apex Council does not exist and as though the constitution is a matter of personal convenience. This cannot be allowed to stand.”
They argued that the President does not have the power to “nullify, cancel or declare redundant” a validly convened SGM. Kharkamni called for the SGM before he was suspended and his suspension, the Apex Council members argued, was itself unconstitutional.
Therefore, the statement added, the July 3 SGM will go ahead at the MCA office in Shillong at 1pm.
On the matter of the MCA Ombudsman, Sangma claimed that Justice (retd) BD Agarwal had been duly appointed in March but that Kharkamni tried to stifle and dismiss him in May when the sexual harassment allegations were brought to the attention of the Meghalaya State Commission for Women (MSCW).
However, the signatories to today’s statement argued that an Ombudsman can only be appointed by the General Body during an annual general meeting (AGM) and this was not the case with Justice Agarwal. “No agreement between office bearers, however senior, can substitute for that constitutional requirement. An informal agreement to appoint is not an appointment. If Justice Agarwal was agreed upon informally but never appointed through a duly convened AGM, he is not the validly appointed Ombudsman of the MCA. Any proceedings purportedly conducted under his authority are therefore constitutionally infirm.”
“The President cannot on one hand use the absence of a valid Ombudsman to justify emergency action, and on the other hand blame the Secretary for that absence particularly when the President himself had the authority and opportunity to convene an AGM/SGM to make the appointment through the proper constitutional process,” they added.
Sangma was also hauled up for writing to the BCCI unilaterally regarding the sacking of the coach and manager and suspension of Kharkamni, as the statement argued that the MCA constitution gives only the Apex Council and not the President the power to communicate with and make representations to the BCCI on behalf of the association.
The President has several times made clear that there will be zero tolerance for sexual harassment within the MCA and on this the Apex Council members agreed wholeheartedly. However, they added that zero tolerance for misconduct does not mean that constitutional processes be set aside. “The constitution of this association exists precisely to ensure that even the most serious allegations are dealt with fairly, collectively and lawfully through show-cause notices, the disciplinary sub-committee and the Ombudsman. A President who bypasses the constitution in the name of justice is not delivering justice; he is substituting his own individual judgment for the rule of law. That substitution, however well-intentioned, sets a dangerous precedent for every member of this association.”
The statement concluded by saying that the General Body has “supreme constitutional authority” above the Apex Council and can therefore review and reverse “every unilateral action taken by the President…without proper constitutional authority.”
“The concerned members of the Apex Council stand firmly with the women players of this association and support all efforts to ensure justice for them. However, justice must be delivered through constitutional procedures, not in spite of them. It is precisely because accountability matters that it must be pursued through the lawful mechanisms that the MCA constitution provides for only then will it be just, credible and beyond challenge. The rule of law within this association must prevail over the discretion of any individual. The Apex Council and the General Body must discharge their constitutional duty, restore institutional order and ensure that justice, if it is to mean anything, must be seen to be done through lawful and constitutional means,” it added after calling on all members and district associations to attend the SGM and “exercise their constitutional rights without hesitation”.
The SGM’s agenda, as laid out by Kharkamni, was to discuss the MSCW order, appoint an Ombudsman and “any other business”. It is the last matter that could be explosive given how tense the situation is within the MCA at the moment.
