Our Special Correspondent
The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) is once again mired in controversy, with its truncated Apex Council — now led by Acting President Daljit Singh — deciding to reinstate two suspended members, R.A. Swaroop and Roma Singh.
The reversal, taken just after the Association’s adjourned Annual General Meeting, has resurfaced as a legal flashpoint, particularly following Swaroop’s recent election as President of the Hyderabad Veteran Cricketers Association.
An interesting or rather disturbing, name is the nomination of Vinod Ingle as the Vice President of the Veterans Cricket Association of Hyderabad, and also nominated by the Hyderabad Cricket Association in its bylaws amendment committee. This again is a case of conflict of interest. One wonders how both associations are ignoring a complaint filed against him by parents regarding Ingle’s misuse of his position in the Executive Committee of the Cambridge Cricket team to collect money for his personal use.
Earlier, the Supreme Court-appointed Ombudsman, Justice Nageswara Rao, had suspended the Hyderabad Blues Cricket Club — where Swaroop was Joint Secretary — noting that he simultaneously served as Treasurer of the Roshanara Recreation Club. Roma Singh was suspended on conflict-of-interest grounds due to her position in Gunrock Cricket Club and her relationship with former HCA official Vanka Pratap.
The HCA’s governance framework comprises five elected office-bearers — President, Vice-President, General Secretary, Joint Secretary, and Treasurer — and four co-opted members, thereby increasing the Apex Council’s strength to nine. But confusion persists on whether the Association has fully implemented the Lodha Committee reforms, which introduced stringent conflict-of-interest norms across Indian cricket bodies.
In 2022, Justice Rao’s single-member committee suspended Swaroop and Roma Singh, apart from debarring 57 affiliated clubs. The committee’s July 31, 2023, order made specific findings:
- Para 20.19: “Mr. R.A. Swaroop, who appeared on behalf of Hyderabad Blues Cricket Club as its Joint Secretary, has been holding the post of Treasurer at Roshanara Recreation Club simultaneously, which was not denied by him.”
- Para 20.20: “There is direct conflict of interest as per the guidelines of the Lodha Committee. Hyderabad Blues and Roshanara… are manifestly in conflict of interest. As such, all their executive committee members are liable to be barred from holding office in HCA and/or contesting elections for the next one term or three years, whichever is greater.”
The order explicitly disqualified Swaroop, noting that his nomination to the HCA Apex Council via the Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA) did not override the ban.
Despite this, the truncated Apex Council — formed after the arrest of President Jaganmohan Rao, Secretary Devraj Ramachander, and Treasurer Srinivas in separate conflict-of-interest cases — controversially reinstated Swaroop, Roma Singh, and the 57 disqualified clubs.
Legal experts question both the quorum and authority of the Council to override judicial orders. “Any such act of reinstatement, in contravention of Lodha guidelines and court orders, risks being struck down as void ab initio,” said a senior advocate tracking the case.
The controversy flared again after Swaroop was elected President of the Hyderabad Veteran Cricketers Association and Ingle as one of its Vice-Presidents, sparking debate over whether a person disqualified for conflict of interest can simultaneously head another cricketing body.
Critics argue that such moves only deepen the governance crisis. “Hyderabad cricket has become more about power battles than promoting the game. These legal entanglements only deepen the rot,” remarked a former HCA official.
With multiple petitions still pending before the Telangana High Court, the reinstatement of Swaroop and Roma Singh is unlikely to escape judicial scrutiny. The court has already taken a strict view on conflicts of interest, and observers believe it may once again step in to enforce Lodha reforms.
However, it is gathered that both Swaroop and Roma Singh’s term with HCA in ending soon.
Until then, the HCA drifts further into irrelevance — an institution overshadowed less by cricketing achievements than by courtrooms, controversies, and its stubborn refusal to learn from past governance lapses.
