Dnyaneshwar Agashe

Dnyaneshwar Agashe
Agashe in 2002
Vice president of BCCI
In office
1995–1999
Executive chairman of Maharashtra Cricket Association
In office
1969–1989
Managing Director of Suvarna Sahakari Bank
In office
1969–2009
Managing Director of the Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate Ltd.
In office
1983–1996
Preceded by Jagdish "Panditrao" Agashe
Succeeded by Ashutosh Agashe
Chairman of the Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate Ltd.
In office
1996–2009
Succeeded by Ashutosh Agashe
Personal details
Born (1942-04-17)17 April 1942
Pune, Bombay Presidency, British Raj
Died 2 January 2009(2009-01-02) (aged 66)
Pune, Maharashtra, India
Spouse(s) Rekha Agashe
Children Mandar Agashe, Ashutosh Agashe, Sheetal Agashe
Parents Chandrashekhar Agashe (father) and Indirabai Agashe (mother)
Residence Pune, Maharashtra, India
Alma mater Sir Parshurambhau College, Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce
Known for Businessman, entrepreneur, cricketer, cricket administrator, philanthropist
Cricket information
Batting Right-hand batsman
Bowling Right-hand bowling
Role Wicketkeeper, batsman
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1962/63-1967/68 Maharashtra
1963/64 Maharashtra Governor's XI
1964/65 Indian Universities
1965/66 Vazir Sultan Tobacco Colts XI
Career statistics
Competition FC
Matches 13
Runs scored 341
Batting average 26.23
100s/50s 0/-
Top score 75
Balls bowled -
Wickets 0
Bowling average –
5 wickets in innings –
10 wickets in match –
Best bowling –
Catches/stumpings 33/6
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 19 August 2016

Dnyaneshwar Agashe (17 April 1942 – 2 January 2009) was an Indian businessman, cricketer, cricket administrator and philanthropist.

A wicketkeeper-batsman, Agashe played first-class cricket for Maharashtra between 1962 and 1968 and scored two half-centuries in 13 matches. His best season came in 1964–65 where he made his career-best 75, took ten catches and made two stampings. He was vice-president of Board of Control for Cricket in India from 1995 to 1999. He became a member of the Maharashtra Cricket Association in 1969 and became the association's executive chairman in 1989. He was chairman and managing director of the Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate, chairman of Kolhapur Steel and founder of Suvarna Sahakari Bank and Mandar Printing Press.

Agashe and his family came into public scandal in 2008, in the Suvarna Sahakari Bank scam. While in judicial custody during the scandal, Agashe died of complications from diabetes.

Early life

Agashe was born on 17 April 1942, into an entrepreneurial Chitpavan brahmin family of industrialist Chandrashekhar Agashe and wife Indirabai Agashe (née Dwarka Gokhale).[1][2][3][4] Agashe's father founded the Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate in 1934.[5]

Agashe was educated at Raman Baug High School and was awarded a BA degree by Sir Parshurambhau College. He also had a BCom degree from Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce. Agashe began competitively playing cricket in school, touring Sri Lanka. He was wicketkeeper and middle order batsman when he went on to play the Ranji Trophy from 1967 to 1973, representing his home state of Maharashtra.[2]

Agashe married Rekha Gogte, niece of Balkrishna "Raosaheb" Gogte.[6][7] They had two sons, Mandar Agashe and Ashutosh Agashe,[8] and a daughter, Sheetal Agashe.[9]

Other prominent relations of Agashe include Kokuyo Camlin head Dilip Dandekar,[10] musician Ashutosh Phatak,[5] and Maratha war general Bapu Gokhale.[11][12]

Business career

In 1983, Agashe took office as managing director after his older brother in his father's company.[13] He served as chairman to Kolhapur Steel and was director to many other start-ups. He diversified his business into liquor (with Howling Wolves), pharmaceuticals, power generation, publication (with Mandar Printing Press), and real estate. He started a unit in Canada for Taj Rum.[2]

Agashe joined the Maharashtra Cricket Association in 1969 and became its executive chairman in 1989, after having been a member for 20 years.[2][14] During his tenure as chairman of the association, he was twice elected as the vice-president and once as the treasurer of the BCCI. He had also contested for the coveted post of BCCI's president, but lost by two votes. He was also the vice-chairman of the finance committee of the Pakistan-India-Lanka Joint Management Committee (Pilcom), which had organised the 1996 World Cup.[15] He served his record seventh term as chairman, being elected in April, 2003.[16] Agashe was also a voting member of the Mumbai Cricket Association.[17] He was also the vice-president of the National Cricket Academy.[18]

In 1995, Agashe was elected as vice-president of Board of Control for Cricket in India and maintained office till 1999.[2]

Agashe with John Major and Sanjay Dalmia.

In 2004, Agashe was unanimously elected the president of the Poona Youth Club.[19] He served as president through the club's liquor controversy.[20] And in 2006, Agashe resigned the presidency,[21] after his third year as president of the club and was succeeded by Shashi Vaidya.[22][23]

Chairman of the Maharashtra Cricket Association

In 2004, the nine member interim committee formed by P B Joshi was dissolved, and Agashe was elected to the office of the chairman of the Maharashtra Cricket Association after interim committee chairman Balasaheb Thorve vacated the position.[24] Later that same year, Agashe was denied participation in the annual general meeting of the BCCI due to alleged factional disputes by then BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya.[25] He was later denied his right to vote in the Board's elections that year because the alleged factionalism in the MCA saw Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar losing by one vote to the post of the BCCI's president.[26] Agashe moved court countermanding the elections, alleging that the absence of his vote ensured an unfair victory to Dalmiya nominee Ranbir Singh Mahendra.[27][28][29] The Madras High Court stated a prima facie case against the elections,[30] with Agashe expressing satisfaction with the court's decision.[31]

In 2005, the MCA was gripped in a power struggle between Agashe and Ajay Shirke.[32] That year's MCA election was in sight of reformed regulation scheme recommendations between the two parties,[33] which was won by Shirke.[34] Agashe had served a record 7th term at the time of his ousting from the position.[35] Critics claimed that the court cases between the two parties were responsible for a lack luster cricketing season in Pune that year.[36]

Suvarna Sahakari Bank scam case

Agashe founded the Suvarna Sahakari Bank in 1969 for the banking purposes of mainly middle-class families.[8]

In 2006, after the controversial 2004 BCCI election scandal[37] involving Sharad Pawar's defeat to election to the office of president of the board at the hands of Agashe,[38][39] the bank business started having financial troubles.[17] Many sources claimed Agashe's actions (delay to vote) may have been deliberate.[17][40] Some sources also claimed that Agashe's business supposedly failed as backlash for thwarting Pawar's ambitions for presidency.[17] In September of that same year, the cooperative bank was put under moratorium by the Reserve Bank of India.[41] The board of directors for the bank was superseded soon after.[42] In 2007, following the order of moratorium, the State Department of Cooperation appointed Mukund Ghaisas as administrator at the bank.[43] Many of the bank's depositors held demonstrations at Agashe's Aundh residence and threatened criminal actions against the Agashe family,[44] after which a speedy merger was promised by Agashe.[45] Initial NPAs totaled Rs. 125 crore, 13% against the seven per cent maximum allowable under the RBI norms.[46] After the non-performing assets of the bank grew to more than 43%, account holders and depositors held a day long token fast to protest against the misinformation provided in regards to the alleged duped loans.[47] In 2008, the RBI gave the bank permission to pay interest on deposits made from January to June 2008; Agashe mortgaged personal property worth Rs. 200 crore in lieu of the recovery of the deposits worth Rs. 725 crore.[48] Hotel Ranjeet, a hotel owned by Agashe was auctioned off for the same reasons.[49] Cosmos Bank planned to acquire the bank after it hit this roadblock with the RBI and the subsequent announcement of the proposed merger with Cosmos led to large-scale panic withdrawals by Suvarna customers.[50][51]

Agashe along with 14 other board members was taken into judicial custody on 22 November 2008;[6][8] the bank was allegedly involved in a Rs. 436.74 crore scam.[52] The police stated that the accused along with six others allegedly misused their rights and sanctioned loans mostly to firms owned by themselves and then defaulted the loans, thereby duping the depositors. The arrests were made after a complaint was filed by Rajesh Jadhavar, a special auditor with the Cooperatives Department at the Maharashtra government.[53] Judicial magistrate first class Rajani Jadhav remanded Agashe and the 14 other suspects to police custody till November 24th, with provisions of medical assistance if required, citing the senior citizenship of a majority of the accused.[54] The economics offenses wing of the crime branch conducted a raid of all the homes of the accused, including Agashe's Aundh home to recover Rs. 1.5 lakhs. Following the expiry of the two day custody remand, inspector Narayan Khaire produced the accused before judicial magistrate G G Itkalkar, where the court remanded the suspects to magisterial custody for 14 days. Citing insufficient investigation time, Khaire asked for a further 12 day extension in custody. The prosecution stated that upon discovery of the Rs. 1.5 lakh discovered, further interrogation of the accused was necessary and alleged that they had disbursed loans to people close them by flouting RBI rules. In return, Agashe's defense counsel claimed that Agashe and his family had sold off various properties for the repayment of the loan. The defense counsel also stated that the Agashe family had extended full cooperation with the police and submitted that the family would repay another Rs. 80 crore after the issue of Suvarna's merger was settled. The defense also raised the issue of first information reporting not produced before the court three days after registering the case and further contended that the loans had been sanctioned by the bank's disbursement committee, a committee Agashe was not a member of.[55] The bail applications filed at the time for Agashe, his wife and sister[56] were subsequently rejected.[57][58]

While in custody, Agashe's health deteriorated and he was admitted on December 22 as he was suffering from severe diabetes and gangrene,[59] for which he had previously been denied medical assistance, allegedly.[40] He later died of a heart attack from complications of diabetes at Sassoon Hospital on 2 January 2009.[60][61] Upon his death, the depositors of the bank turned their hopes to the Indian Overseas Bank for help after the bank's accumulated losses were estimated at over Rs. 350 crore.[62][41]

Cricket career

Agashe and Sunil Gavaskar.

As a wicketkeeper-batsman, Agashe played first-class cricket for Maharashtra between 1962 and 1968 and scored two half-centuries in 13 matches. He played his best season in 1964–65 where he made his career-best 75, took ten catches and made two stumpings.[63]

He then went on to become a vice-president of the Board for Control of Cricket in India and executive chairman of the Maharashtra Cricket Association.[64] He also served as vice-chairman of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.[65]

First class cricket matches played by Agashe[66]
DateTournamentZoneMatchStadiumCode
15 December 1962Ranji Trophy 1962/63West ZoneMaharashtra v BombayClub of Maharashtra, Poonaf24585
20 October 1963Ranji Trophy 1963/64West ZoneBombay v MaharashtraBrabourne Stadium, Bombayf25002
26 October 1963Defence Fund Match 1963/64-Gujarat Governor's XI v Maharashtra Governor's XISardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium, Ahmedabadf25005
5 December 1963Ranji Trophy 1963/64West ZoneMaharashtra v SaurashtraClub of Maharashtra, Poonaf25056
31 October 1964Ranji Trophy 1964/65West ZoneMaharashtra v GujaratClub of Maharashtra, Poonaf25515
14 November 1964Ranji Trophy 1964/65West ZoneBaroda v MaharashtraMoti Bagh Stadium, Barodaf25528
5 December 1964Ceylon in India 1964/65-Indian Universities v CeylonNehru Stadium, Madrasf25564
5 October 1965Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament 1965/66Quarter-finalHyderabad Cricket Association XI v Vazir Sultan Tobacco Colts XILal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabadf26014
13 November 1965Ranji Trophy 1965/66West ZoneBombay v MaharashtraBrabourne Stadium, Bombayf26028
20 November 1965Ranji Trophy 1965/66West ZoneMaharashtra v BarodaKarad Engineering College Ground, Karadf26032
30 September 1967Ranji Trophy 1967/68West ZoneGujarat v MaharashtraShastri Maidan, Anandf26990
11 November 1967Ranji Trophy 1967/68West ZoneMaharashtra v BarodaMR College Stadium, Walchandnagarf27008
24 November 1967Ranji Trophy 1967/68West ZoneMaharashtra v SaurashtraNehru Stadium, Poonaf27027

Philanthropy

Agashe was instrumental in starting some educational institutes. He donated to the Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce and was instrumental in founding of the Chandrashekhar Agashe College of Physical Education and Panditrao Agashe School in Pune. He also founded the Chandrashekhar Agashe High School, Chandrashekhar Agashe Junior College and Indirabai Agashe High School on the family's estate in the town of Shripur.[2]

Agashe also donated his family collection of ancient Indian musical instruments to the Chandrashekhar Agashe Museum, a part of the Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum of Pune in honour of his father.[2][67][68]

Agashe provided financial assistance to Société géologique de France for their research in 1994.[69]

Legacy

Agashe died on 2 January 2009 at Sassoon Hospital in Pune, at the age of 67.[70] He died in the ICU while under treatment for diabetic complications.[71] A condolence meet following Agashe's death was held at the Poona Youth Club.[72]

Agashe's son, Ashutosh Agashe conceived the Dnyaneshwar Agashe Trophy as the highest award of merit at Pune's local Poona Youth Club's (PYC) annual cricket tournament, the PYC Premier League in honor of his father.[73] The first award was awarded in 2015.[73][74]

References

  1. ↑ "Businessmen". kokanastha.com.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kelkar, Siddhart (2009). "Friends recall royal Agashe, despite taint". Indian Express. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
  3. ↑ Team. "Singers -kokanastha.com". www.kokanastha.com. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  4. ↑ Pathak, Gangadhar (1978). Gokhale kulavr̥ttānta (in Marathi) (2nd ed.). Pune: Gokhale Kulavr̥ttānta Kāryakārī Maṇdaḷa. p. 1286. LCCN 81902590.
  5. 1 2 Ranade, Sadashiv (1974). Agashe Kula-vr̥ttānta (in Marathi). p. 375. LCCN 74903020. OCLC 20388396.
  6. 1 2 "Fugitive run ends for economic fraud and dreaded gangster". Indian Express. 2009. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
  7. ↑ Kamath, M. V.; Gogaṭe, Bāḷakr̥shṇa Mahādeva (1991-01-01). The Makings of a Millionaire: A Tribute to a Living Legend, Raosaheb B.M. Gogte, Industrialist, Philanthropist & Educationist. Jaico Publishing House – via Google Books. The eldest daughter Rekha is married to Dnyaneshwar Agashe, Managing Director of Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate, Pune and an active cricket administrator, being the Vice President of the Cricket Control Board of India.
  8. 1 2 3 "Dnyaneshwar Agashe cremated". Times of India. 2009. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
  9. ↑ Hindi Cinema Year Book. Screen World Publication. 2005-01-01. Sheetal Agashe,
  10. ↑ Gogaṭe Kulavr̥ttānta (in Marathi) (2006 ed.). Mumbai: Gogaṭe Kulamaṇḍala. p. 532. LCCN 2012338796.
  11. ↑ Team. "Singers -kokanastha.com". www.kokanastha.com. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  12. ↑ Pathak, Gangadhar (1978). Gokhale kulavr̥ttānta (in Marathi) (2nd ed.). Pune: Gokhale Kulavr̥ttānta Kāryakārī Maṇdaḷa. p. 1286. LCCN 81902590.
  13. ↑ Kothari's Economic and Industrial Guide of India. Kothari. 1978-01-01 – via Google Books. Directors : Shankar Laxraan Limaye (Chairman), Dnyaneshwar Chandrashekhar Agashe, Gajanan Hari Sabnis, Vinayak Krishna Sathe Jagadish Chandrashekhar Agashe, Govind Narhar Joshi, Ramrao Madhavrao Deshmukh
  14. ↑ "The man who followed the book". Mid Day. Retrieved 2017-02-14. Mr Dnyaneshwar Agashe being the president of the association
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  16. ↑ "Agashe marginalised in MCA". Times of India. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Anandan, Sujata (2010). "Its Tharoor's cricket versus Pawar's". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
  18. ↑ "Gavaskar issue 'not on agenda'". The Tribune. January 3, 2001. Retrieved 2017-12-17. NCA vice-chairman Dnyaneshwar Agashe
  19. ↑ "PYC elections put off". Times of India. September 16, 2006.
  20. ↑ "PYC banned from serving liquor". Times of India. August 5, 2006.
  21. ↑ "Agashe quits as president of PYC Gym". Times of India. September 6, 2006.
  22. ↑ Karmarkar, Amit (November 22, 2006). "Fall of wicket: Agashe's giant on the verge of oblivion". Times of India.
  23. ↑ "Vaidya pips Agashe for post of president in PYC elections". Times of India. November 21, 2006.
  24. ↑ "Agashe and team reinstated on MCA". Times of India. January 1, 2004.
  25. ↑ "Agashe, Modi to move court". Times of India. October 1, 2004.
  26. ↑ "Agashe irked by vote denial". Times of India. October 2, 2004.
  27. ↑ "District court delivers a jolt to Agashe". Times of India. October 31, 2004.
  28. ↑ "Agashe consulting lawyers to file writ petition | Zee News". Zee News. 2004-10-01. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  29. ↑ "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Sport". Tribune India. Retrieved 2017-02-14. MCA chief Agashe moves court
  30. ↑ "Madras HC 'stumps' BCCI". Times of India. October 9, 2004.
  31. ↑ "Agashe happy with court order". Times of India. October 9, 2004.
  32. ↑ "Thorve squares up against MCA". Times of India. March 28, 2006.
  33. ↑ "Election fever grips MCA". Times of India. March 23, 2005.
  34. ↑ "Shirke group reigns over MCA". Times of India. April 12, 2005.
  35. ↑ "Shirke wins cricket marathon". Times of India. November 2, 2004.
  36. ↑ "STATE OF THE SPORT: No shine, no turn in Pune's cricket". Times of India. September 29, 2005.
  37. ↑ "BCCI to hold AGM on January 27". The Tribune. Chennai. January 15, 2005. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
  38. ↑ "Factionalism in state scuttled Pawar's chances". The Times of India. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  39. ↑ Bureau (2004-09-30). "Pawar out on Dalmiya googly". Business Standard. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
  40. 1 2 Khanna, Ruchika (April 27, 2010). "INDIAN POLITICIANS' LEAGUE: The gentlemen's game". The Tribune. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
  41. 1 2 Nambiar, Nisha (2009). "Agashe dead; depositors now pin hopes on IOB". Indian Express. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  42. ↑ "Suvarna bank board superseded". Times of India. September 16, 2006.
  43. ↑ "Ghaisas Suvarna bank administrator". Times of India. June 1, 2007.
  44. ↑ "Suvarna protestors halt traffic". Times of India. February 11, 2008.
  45. ↑ "Arrests will not solve problems: Depositors". Times of India. November 23, 2008.
  46. ↑ "Suvarna may merge with Cosmos Co-operative". Business Standard. September 12, 2006.
  47. ↑ "Token fast outside Suvarna bank today". Times of India. April 28, 2008.
  48. ↑ "Suvarna to pay interest on deposits from Jan". Times of India. May 19, 2008.
  49. ↑ "City hotel auctioned to recover dues". Times of India. June 21, 2007.
  50. ↑ "Suvarna Sahakari Bank placed under moratorium". The Financial Express (India). 2006. Retrieved 19 August 2016. The Cosmos Banks plans to acquire the Shree Suvarna Sahakari Bank has hit a roadblock with the Reserve Bank placing the Suvarna Sahakari Bank under moratorium.
  51. ↑ "Suvarna may merge with Cosmos Co-operative". Business Standard. September 12, 2006.
  52. ↑ "Agashe, others sent to judicial custody". Times of India. 25 November 2008. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  53. ↑ "Pune coop bank in Rs 436-cr scam". Business Standard. 2008. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
  54. ↑ "Suvarna co-op bank case: 15 arrested". Times of India. November 23, 2008.
  55. ↑ "Agashe, others sent to judicial custody". Times of India. November 25, 2008.
  56. ↑ "Cooperative bank fraud lands 21 in soup, 15 arrested". Indian Express. November 23, 2008.
  57. ↑ "Suvarna case: Court defers order on bail". Times of India. November 26, 2008.
  58. ↑ "Court rejects bail plea in Survarna case". Times of India. November 30, 2008.
  59. ↑ "Son attends funeral under police eye". Indian Express. January 4, 2009.
  60. ↑ "Former MCA chief Agashe dies". Web India 123. January 3, 2009.
  61. ↑ "Deadend!". Pune Mirror. January 4, 2009.
  62. ↑ "Hope for depositors as IOB bids for Suvarna". Times of India. April 8, 2008.
  63. ↑ Oracle, CricketArchives. "Cricket Archives". cricketarchives.com. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  64. ↑ Staff, Cricinfo (2009). "ESPN Cricinfo". ESPN. Retrieved 19 August 2016. A wicketkeeper-batsman, Dayaneshwar Agashe played first-class cricket for Maharashtra
  65. ↑ "FOCUS NOW ON DOMESTIC CIRCUIT". New Delhi: The Telegraph India. May 19, 2017. It was also announced that Dnyaneshwar Agashe of Maharashtra will be appointed vice-chairman of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.
  66. ↑ Oracle, CricketArchives. ""First class cricket matches played by Agashe"". Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  67. ↑ "Kelkar Museum". Rajakelkarmuseum.com. 2003-05-12. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  68. ↑ "Chandrashekhar Agashe museum- Section of Raja Dinkar Kelkar museum". Tourism Places. 2014. Retrieved 2017-01-01. This whole collection was donated by his son Dnyaneshwar Agashe.
  69. ↑ France, Société géologique de (1994-01-01). Mémoires de la Société géologique de France (in French) – via Google Books. financial sistance from Sri Dnyaneshwar Agashe
  70. ↑ "Ex-director of Suvarna bank dies". The Times of India. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  71. ↑ "Industrialist, ex-BCCI vice-president Agashe dies". DNA India. 2009-01-03. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  72. ↑ "Condolence meeting for Dnyaneshwar Agashe today". Times of India. January 5, 2009.
  73. 1 2 ":: PYC GYMKHANA ::". www.pycgymkhana.com. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  74. ↑ "Tigerschi vijaypdachi darkaali". epaperlokmat.in (in Marathi). Pune: Lokmat. 14 November 2017. 11. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
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