CoA questions BCCI secretary over ₹52 lakh travel bills in 169 days

The CoA has questioned the BCCI officiating secretary Amitabh Chaudhary about his ₹ 53 lakh travel bills over a span of 169 days.

The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators to administer the day to day functioning of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and smoothly implement the Lodha Committee reforms is not at all happy with the BCCI acting secretary’s constant travelling.

CoA Vinod Rai, the former chief auditor of India, has questioned Chaudhary for unapproved travel and expenses. The CoA has also asked for clarification on Chaudhary’s trip to Bhutan along with an executive assistant, while they had no specific role to perform there.

“Why was the approval of the CoA not taken prior to your visit to Bhutan along with your executive assistant when you have done so in the past?” Rai has asked Chaudhary in the letter.

The CoA has also asked him to explain the reason for his visit to Bhutan when the purpose was essentially to survey the availability of cricketing equipment, cricket grounds, suitability of soil/clay available for preparation of pitches, etc. “All these functions are technical in nature and could well have been done only by the curator and the AGM Cricket Operations. The need for your presence and indeed the presence of your Executive Assistant on this visit is not apparent,” the letter states.

The CoA, in the letter seeking an explanation from the BCCI officiating secretary, has also stated that during a span of 169 days Chaudhary has travelled for 110 days. This includes 32 days of foreign travel. Chaudhary’s travel during this period has cost the BCCI ₹52.76 lakh.

According to BCCI CoA’s 5th status report last year, Chaudhary had incurred total expenses of ₹1.59 crore under heads like air-fare, TA-DA, accommodation and foreign exchange allowance.

The BCCI officials get a daily allowance of $750 (₹51,000) per day for foreign travel over and above their expenses of hotel, car, air travel and food. The players are paid only $125 (₹ 8,500) a day for foreign travel in addition to the match fees and annual salary.

For work within in India, the officials get ₹30,000 a day as allowance.

The CoA has asked the acting secretary to provide clarification latest by July 4, a day before the Supreme Court will hear the BCCI matter on July 5.

CoA questions BCCI secretary over ₹52 lakh travel bills in 169 days