Indian chess bosses have swung into action to contain the damaging fallouts of the sensational corruption charges leveled by Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua, a chess legend in his own right, against the Bengal Chess Association (BCA) secretary, Atanau Lahiri.
The latest reaction of the All India Chess Federation (AICF) in dealing with Lahiri, who has been caught with his hands literarily in the till, shows .the Federation has done a rethink on tacking an alleged offender, who is also one of their own officials. Laihri is a member of the AICF trainer's committee and perceived to be close to the Federation bosses.
Barua had accused Lahiri of routing huge amount of fund received from the state government to his own chess promotion company in a clear case of conflict of interest. Barua produced documents to show that Rs 23 lakh in cash was withdrawn from LahIri's comp[nay--Global Chess- in around 53 weeks.
Barua also accused Lahiri of not allowing him to hold a youth tournament and banning two of India top players, Grandmaster Surya Sekhar Ganguly and Deep Sen Gupta, from taking part in Bengal Chess events.Lahiri also barred under-9 national girls' champion Sneha Haldar from playing in a tournament on disciplinary grounds.
Barua has reportedly also met with State Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and brought to her notice serious financial irregularities in conduct of state chess association.
Barua's charges of corruption are in sync with ·an allegation leveled by an office bearer of the BCA that signature of a chartered account was forged to manipulate the accounts.
There are also serious allegation that Lahiri conducts all profitable tournaments under Global Chess and all non-profitable ones under BCA. Lahiri is a partner and main signatory in Global Chess.
In its first reaction AICF secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan on August 30 issued a statement taking cognizance of Barua's complaint and promised to set up a three-member committee to probe the charges.
"The AICF will initiate a thorough enquiry into the affairs of Bengal Chess Association and its secretary Atanu Lahiri on the charges leveled by Dibyendu Barua. We will set up a committee soon to look into the matter."
Stopping chess activity is perceived as a serious offence by us in AICF," the statement added. Chauhan's letter also slammed BCA's decision to stop nine-year-old Sneha Halder - the state and national U-9 champion - from taking part in state-level tournaments.
The tone of Chauhan's statement was highly critical of Lahiri's conduct and gave the impression that the AICF was determined to do justice in this case.
Chauhan statement created a flutter in the chess circle, because Lahiri is seen as a blue-eyed boy of the AICF bosses, who allowed him to control the destiny of Bengal chess despite presiding over an association which didn't even have a fulltime president in the last three years.
It didn't take long before differences cropped up in the AICF over this issue.. On September 6, AICF president P.R. Venkatarama Raja issued a statement in which he virtually criticized Bharat Singh Chauhan accusing him for taking side in the matter and arguing for impartial probe,
Rebuffing Chauhan for backing a serious issue tossed by India's foremost chess player, the AICF president Venkatrama Raja said, the Federation should act impartially in this matter and Chauhan "went beyond the brief" while issuing the press statement regarding the allegations leveled by Barua.
Raja said he had agreed that a press release be issued, saying players' interest would be protected and the matter would be investigated.
Stating that Chauhan created 'unnecessary emotions, Raja said, "It is important that we in the AICF be seen as impartial till all allegations are verified and a chance is given to all parties. I see some members of the BCA have already called a meeting to initiate action against Lahiri even before the AICF has done the investigation."
When Barua first held the Press conference on August 26, the AICF president phoned him up and expressed regret over what had transpired in West Bengal. Sources said in his talk with Barua the AICF boss also disapproval of Lahri's conduct. The tone of the AICF president's statement clearly shows that the chess bosses are not with the Federation's secretary on this matter.
Has Raja changed his mind? Was there a lobby which was trying to prevent the wheels of justice from moving in the right direction?
Raja directed the BCA to hold its annual general meeting and conduct its elections under the supervision of an AICF-appointed committee in early October. The million dollar question is: How can state association's election be held under Lahiri when he is facing such grave charges? The AICF has given no indication that the probe will be completed before the state elations.
Raja nominated a three-member committee, comprising senior AICF office-bearers A. Narasimha Reddy (chairman), D.V. Sundar and Kishor Bhandekar, to oversee the election process, probe the complaints made by Barua against Lahiri and submit a report within three months.
Senior chess players and organizers are already wondering how such grave charges could be probed by an in-house committee. Will inter-personal relation not influence decision making., especially in a case where the man being probed in also a member of the AICF. Was not an expert from outside the cricket entrusted with the task of probing cases of corruption and conflict of interest in cricket?
"This is eyewash. Why should they take three months to probe such simple case which can be concluded in a few days. The charges are based on documents. If AICF was serious, it could have appointed a committee of experts from outside and decided the matter in one week," said a Grandmaster.
Incidentally, soon after Barua raised red flag against Lahiri conduct, the BCA meeting decided to serve show cause notice to Lahiri and hold election in three months.
"The letter of the AICF president has clearly come as damper to the chess lover who wanted stern action against Lahiri and the likes of him," said a senior chess player.