DDCA row: Members question Jaitley’s continuation after six years

Twenty-seven DDCA members have urged the BCCI to order fresh elections, arguing that president Rohan Jaitley and treasurer Harish Singla have completed six years in office and must undergo a mandatory three-year cooling-off period under the association's constitution

New Delhi: Twenty-seven members of the Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA), led by Naveen Jindal and Raman Saluja, have written to BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia seeking fresh elections in the state unit, arguing that incumbent president Rohan Jaitley has completed six years in the top post and must undergo a mandatory cooling-off period under the association’s constitution.

Jindal’s letter carries the signatures of 25 other DDCA members, while Saluja has made a separate appeal. Both letters are in PTI’s possession.

---

It may be noted that the BCCI does not yet come under the purview of the National Sports Governance Act and continues to follow the constitution framed on the recommendations of the Lodha Committee.

Under the BCCI constitution, any office-bearer who completes six years in either a state association or the BCCI must undergo a mandatory three-year cooling-off period.

As of Friday, November 13, president Jaitley and treasurer Harish Singla had completed six years in office, having assumed charge on November 10, 2020.

In his letter, Saluja has sought fresh elections, arguing that Jaitley and Singla are no longer eligible to continue in office.

The letter states: “As per the available DDCA election and tenure records and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website records, Shri Rohan Jaitley and Shri Harish Singla were first elected to the Apex Council of DDCA on 10th November 2020 and have now completed six continuous years in office on 9th November 2026.

“This makes them ineligible to continue to serve on the Apex Council as the DDCA Articles of Association clause 8(4), imposes a mandatory 3 year cooling off period on them. Accordingly, Shri Rohan Jaitley and Shri Harish Singla’s position as an Apex Council Member is infructuous now,” Saluja stated.

Saluja has also sought a cooling-off period for 67-year-old secretary Ashok Sharma, who served on the DDCA Apex Council for nine years before being appointed secretary of the state association in 2024.

However, there remains a grey area over whether the tenure of an Apex Council member should also be counted towards the six-year limit.

Jindal, who enclosed a handwritten authorisation note bearing the signatures of 26 members, wrote: “Under the mandatory governance framework approved by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India (pursuant to the Justice Lodha Committee recommendations) and enshrined in the Constitutions of the BCCI and the DDCA, any office bearer who has held office for two consecutive terms of three years each, or for a cumulative period of six years, is mandated to undergo a compulsory cooling-off period before becoming eligible to contest again.”

“An authorisation letter dated November 12, 2026, duly signed by twenty-six (26) members empowering me to file and pursue this representation on their behalf, is enclosed herewith for your kind perusal and record. We remain hopeful of favourable consideration and expeditious directions in this matter,” Jindal wrote to Saikia.

Former DDCA secretary Vinod Tihara, who leads the opposition faction, questioned why the office-bearers were not undergoing a cooling-off period.

“I do not understand that if DDCA runs as per Lodha constitution, what is the reason that Mr Jaitley doesn’t want to go on a cooling off having completed six years,” Tihara told PTI.

Jaitley was unavailable for comment. It is understood that the office-bearers will await instructions from the “men who matter in BCCI” before taking a further call.

“The office bearers are perhaps waiting because in case BCCI comes under the National Sports Governance Act, then it will be a welcome relief for all of them and they won’t have to go for a cooling off,” a DDCA official, requesting anonymity, told PTI.