Rs 35 Lakh on Bananas! BCCI sent notice by Uttarakhand High Court for alleged financial scam worth Crores!

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A major financial irregularity and mismanagement have come into question as the Uttarakhand High Court has summoned a notice to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

As per reports, the High Court has sent BCCI for reply against an alleged case against the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU) for misuse of government funds, falsifying accounts and several other charges. The case stems from accusations of heavily inflated expenses, in the absence of even basic facilities for players.

What happened?

The controversy broke out after Dehradun resident Sanjay Rawat and others cited an external audit of the CAU's 2024-25 accounts. The report flagged dubious expenditures, including a startling Rs 35 lakh billed solely for bananas supplied to players!

It further revealed that Rs 6.4 crore had been paid under event management fees, while INR 26.3 crore was listed as tournament and trial expenses - up from Rs 22.3 crore the previous year. The highly inflated values were raised after an external chartered accountant audited CAU's financial year 2024-25 accounts.

These figures raised red flags as petitioners argued that "state players never received the promised facilities." Instead, they alleged that funds intended for cricket development and player welfare were diverted under inflated expense categories.

Hearing the matter, Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari issued notices to the BCCI, seeking clarification on its supervisory role. The petitioners accused CAU of funnelling crores of amounts for the players without providing the basic needs, such as infrastructure or equipment.

In a parallel petition, former CAU vice-president Surendra Bhandari alleged irregularities in the tendering of the upcoming Uttarakhand Premier League (UPL) 2025, set to begin on September 23. He claimed that the contract was handed to a single company "without a transparent bidding process."

Bhandari also pointed out that since the BCCI granted formal recognition to the CAU in 2019, the body has received over Rs 22 crore in funding. However, he alleged that much of this amount was misused for personal benefit rather than being directed toward infrastructure or nurturing young cricketing talent.