Former president N Srinivasan’s Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) has asked the Supreme Court to form a committee of former presidents and office-bearers of the BCCI to supervise the administration. It has also asked the top court to empower the committee to file a draft constitution in accordance with the suggestions of Justice (retd) RM Lodha committee report as accepted by the Apex Court.
The plea, thereby, indicts the CoA for not having ‘incorporated all the suggestions’, as approved by the SC, of the Lodha panel in the BCCI constitution which was registered last month in Chennai.
The wily old foxes are trying to gain time and thereby scuttle the entire process by trying to weaken the CoA’s position vis-à-vis the Supreme Court.
Whether the plea will see the light of day isn’t clear but as per the plea none of the former presidents are eligible to be a part of the aforementioned committee because of the ineligibility clauses. Starting from Shashank Manohar, who is the chairman of the International Cricket Council, to Anurag Thakur, who is disqualified by the Supreme Court for not doing enough to implement the Lodha reforms, none of them can fit into the committee.
Whereas, the other former president like N Srinivasan, AC Muttiah, Ranbir Singh Mahendra, Sharad Pawar and IS Bindra are above 70 years old, which makes them ineligible to be a part of any committee that can run cricket.
“Allow the present application and issue a direction dissolving the Committee of Administrators for having acted contrary to the mandate of the orders passed by this Hon’ble Court; allow the present application and issue a direction appointing a committee of former presidents and office bearers of the BCCI to supervise the management of the BCCI; allow the present application and issue a direction to the aforementioned committee to file a draft constitution in accordance with the suggestions of Justice Lodha Committee Report as accepted by this Hon’ble Court by judgment dated 18/07/2016 and the issues highlighted by this Hon’ble Court in its order dated 24/07/2017,” the TNCA petition to the Supreme Court reads.
The Srinivasan led TNCA alleges that the CoA has gone beyond its brief in drafting the new constitution.
“This Hon’ble Court directed the CoA to prepare a draft constitution in terms of the main judgment dated 18-7-2016 as well as the order dated 24-7-2017. By the order dated 24-7-2017 passed by this Hon’able Court, all concerned directed to implement the recommendations of the Justice Lodha committee report as far as practicable, barring the issues which had been raised pertaining to membership, number of members of the selection committee, the concept of associate membership, etc,” the petition reads.
“That contrary to the aforesaid mandate, the COA incorporated various provisions which were neither recommended by the Justice Lodha Committee nor were part of the issues indicated by this Hon’ble Court in its order dated 24/07/2017.
It is further pertinent to note that the said additional provisions were neither discussed nor approved by this Hon’ble Court in its judgment and order dated 09/09/2018.
In these circumstances, propriety demanded that only those aspects deliberated and decided by this Hon’ble Court in its judgment dated 09/08/2018 and the suggestions given by Justice Lodha Committee, which were approved by this Hon’ble Court in its judgment dated 18/07/2016, ought to have been included in the constitution sent for registration by the COA.
The COA was bound to delete the additional provisions from the constitution before sending it for registration.
In total disregard of their duties and responsibilities and the mandate of this Hon’ble Court as expressed in its orders dated 23/08/2017 and 21/09/2017 and the judgment dated 09/08/2018, the COA got the constitution of the BCCI, containing the said additional provisions, registered with the Registrar of Societies at Chennai. For this deliberate act of the COA in defiance of the orders passed by this Hon’ble Court, it is respectfully submitted that the COA deserves to be dissolved,” the plea says.
The TNCA petition also sought clarification on the nine-year cap on cricket administration, whether it’s nine years in total or nine years each in both state and BCCI.
It also reminded the Court in its order dated 24/03/2017 which had clarified that if a person held the post of office bearer in respect of a State Association for a period of nine years, he will not be disqualified to contest for the post of office bearer of BCCI.
“Despite the aforementioned position, in paragraph 37 of the Judgment dated 09/08/2018, this Hon’ble Court has accepted clause 6(5) (f) of the draft constitution which provides for disqualification for being an office bearer of the BCCI.
By doing so, a person who has been office bearer of State Association for a period of 9 years has been rendered ineligible from being an Office Bearer, a member of the Governing Council or any Committee of the BCCI or a representative of the BCCI to the International Cricket Council or any similar organization.
“Thus, it is respectfully submitted that the said inadvertent error, occurred in the judgment and resultantly in the registered constitution, ought to be rectified,” the TNCA pleaded.
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