FIR against HPCA smells of political vendetta: Thakur

Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) president Anurag Thakur today said that the opening of FIRs against the sports body was politically motivated while maintaining at the same time that they were cooperating on the probe against them.
HPCA has been, among others, accused of wrongfully getting land allotted out of the village common pool for building a hotel in Dharamsala.
Thakur claimed that HPCA had obtained every clearance from the various government departments and had legally registered itself as a company.
"We have registered as a company on a "no profit, no loss" basis under Section 25 of the Companies Act as done by most cricket associations in the country to avoid interference by state governments in their functioning," he said.

Thakur said that the land given to HPCA on lease belonged to the pool of village common man land open for allotment.
"If we constructed a restaurant at the (Dharamsala) stadium and a hotel ("The Pavilion"), it is to provide the necessary facilities for international cricketers," he said.
Thakur then dared HP Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to call for a time-bound CBI probe into six pending cases of allegations against him, including into the controversial VBS files of the Union Steel Ministry when the latter had been heading it.