Despite A Damning External Audit Report, The Reform of the DDCA Is A Long Way Away

26 October 2017
Among others, the former cricketers Kirti Azad (left) and Bishan Singh Bedi have publicly called for those responsible for financial irregularities within the Delhi & District Cricket Association to be held accountable, but to little avail.
Arvind Yadav/Hindustan Times /Getty Images
Among others, the former cricketers Kirti Azad (left) and Bishan Singh Bedi have publicly called for those responsible for financial irregularities within the Delhi & District Cricket Association to be held accountable, but to little avail.
Arvind Yadav/Hindustan Times /Getty Images

This is the final part of a series on an external audit report that examines the books of the Delhi & District Cricket Association, between the years 2012 and 2015. The first part, on the report’s failure to mention Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, formerly the president of the DDCA, is here. The second story, which details the findings of the audit report—these include embezzlement, fraud and gross mismanagement—is here.

On 10 October, the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) submitted a special audit report of its accounts before the Delhi High Court. In January, the high court appointed the retired Supreme Court justice Vikramjit Sen as the administrator of the state-level cricketing body, and directed him to appoint an external auditor to examine association’s accounts. Sen engaged the firm GS Mathur & Company to audit the DDCA’s books for the financial years between 2012 and 2015.

The firm found numerous instances of financial and procedural malfeasance in the cricketing body’s functioning, including alleged embezzlement, fraud and financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 14 crore. In my second report on the audit, I detailed these findings, which include embezzlement of nearly Rs 283 lakh in the purchase of tickets for cricket matches, as well as seemingly unscrupulous ex-gratia payments of over Rs 45 lakh to select employees.

Sagar is a staff writer at The Caravan.

Keywords: Arun Jaitley DDCA Kiri Azad financial mismanagement corporate affairs Bishan Singh Bedi embezzlement
COMMENT