Rajasthan Royals' reply incomplete, details of IPL passes not submitted: EC

JAIPUR: Even as Rajasthan Royals has replied to the Election Commission notice issued by the district election department on Saturday and denied any political link in distribution of IPL passes, Jaipur Collector and election officer said the reply was "incomplete" and has not submitted a detailed account on the distribution of complimentary passes. However, the district administration would consider a legal action against the Royals for not submitting the 'disaster management plan' in view of the IPL matches in Jaipur.
"Rajasthan Royals has given an 'incomplete' reply to our notice. With regard to the passes they replied, they have not distributed IPL passes for political gain and stated that they usually distribute it to the players. But they have not submitted a detailed account as to how many IPL complimentary passes were distributed during the previous matches and to whom were those passes distributed," Yadav told TOI.
"This is not sufficient. We would again ask them to send the book of accounts or the record of the passes distributed. Action would be taken against them if they are found to have lied," he added.
However, Yadav said legal action would be taken against the Royals as per Section 51 in the Disaster Managment Act, 2005, for not submitting their 'disaster management plan' for the IPL matches in Jaipur. The section states if anybody refuses to comply with any direction given by or on behalf of the central government or the state government or the national executive committee or the state executive committee or the district authority under this Act, shall on conviction be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine, or with both.
"Two notices were issued to them (Royals). One for MCC violation and the other for disaster management plan. They were asked to submit the disaster management plan in the eventuality of weather extremities. They failed to comply with that. That is a serious breach on their part," he added.
The district election department on Thursday had issued Election Commission (EC) notices to Rajasthan Royals, Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) and secretary, sports council, SMS stadium for allegedly distributing complimentary IPL passes for political gain. They were asked to submit reports as to how many passes were distributed in the previous matches and to whom were those passes distributed.
"We have replied to the notice late in the afternoon today (Saturday). We have submitted a general report. We stated that there is no political link to the distribution of passes. The IPL passes are distributed to the players and the staff in the districts as per the quota. If they seek detailed report, we will provide that as well," RCA joint secretary Mahendra Nahar.