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Members fear losing review window
Thursday 29 June 2017

Members fear losing review window
The BCCI’s decision to form a committee to see if the court-appointed administrators (CoA) can be given a list of two or three points for the Supreme Court to review has ruffled feathers. With the CoA set to report to the court that its instructions on constitutional reforms went unheeded, voices within the BCCI itself have started questioning such a move.
This committee saw the inclusion of Saurashtra veteran Niranjan Shah on Wednesday, which took the number of members to eight. They will have their first meeting in New Delhi on July 1 and submit a report to acting BCCI president CK Khanna for him to convey the suggestions to the general body. No time limit has been mentioned, but it has to be a few days before a July 14 Supreme Court hearing.
Shah is above 70 and has quit as secretary of Saurashtra following the court order. But the BCCI believes there is no bar on persons like him as long as they are not office-bearers.
The point to note is that several BCCI members have questioned the idea of forming this committee instead of following the CoA’s advice to adopt the changes proposed by them in the form of a draft constitution. Despite differences, BCCI members barring Vidarbha and Tripura (both have implemented changes as per the SC order) had been unanimous in opposing the changes so far.
“By all practical purposes, this means just another attempt to buy time. There is nothing new for this committee to explore. All the contentious points are well-known and have been discussed over and over again. Going against the advice of the CoA might just mean leaving it to the Supreme Court to take a harsh call. We all know that the court has been strict in its orders,” a BCCI state unit head told Express on condition of anonymity.
There were voices at the June 26 special general meeting in Mumbai supporting the implementation of the COA guidelines. They argued for following the CoA’s advice and accepting all changes, which could give them a chance to approach the court with an appeal to review two-three points like one-state-one-vote, cooling-off period and three-member selection committee. Representatives of Maharashtra, UP and MP advocated such a line.
“For anything to work, the committee has to come up with a report in time for the general body to hand it over to the CoA. It involves a race against time. Moreover, it again sends a message that the BCCI is resisting changes. We had an assurance form CoA that the court would be requested to review these points if we accepted everything else. By not doing so, maybe we have eliminated that option,” said the president of another state body.
Other than the CoA, petitioner in the case against BCCI Aditya Verma too is likely to point out to the court where he thinks the BCCI has flouted orders. “Several members attending the meeting are disqualfied. When the court opens on July 3, I’ll bring this to the court’s notice,” he said.

The BCCI’s decision to form a committee to see if the court-appointed administrators (CoA) can be given a list of two or three points for the Supreme Court to review has ruffled feathers. With the CoA set to report to the court that its instructions on constitutional reforms went unheeded, voices within the BCCI itself have started questioning such a move.

This committee saw the inclusion of Saurashtra veteran Niranjan Shah on Wednesday, which took the number of members to eight. They will have their first meeting in New Delhi on July 1 and submit a report to acting BCCI president CK Khanna for him to convey the suggestions to the general body. No time limit has been mentioned, but it has to be a few days before a July 14 Supreme Court hearing.

Shah is above 70 and has quit as secretary of Saurashtra following the court order. But the BCCI believes there is no bar on persons like him as long as they are not office-bearers.

The point to note is that several BCCI members have questioned the idea of forming this committee instead of following the CoA’s advice to adopt the changes proposed by them in the form of a draft constitution. Despite differences, BCCI members barring Vidarbha and Tripura (both have implemented changes as per the SC order) had been unanimous in opposing the changes so far.

“By all practical purposes, this means just another attempt to buy time. There is nothing new for this committee to explore. All the contentious points are well-known and have been discussed over and over again. Going against the advice of the CoA might just mean leaving it to the Supreme Court to take a harsh call. We all know that the court has been strict in its orders,” a BCCI state unit head told Express on condition of anonymity.

There were voices at the June 26 special general meeting in Mumbai supporting the implementation of the COA guidelines. They argued for following the CoA’s advice and accepting all changes, which could give them a chance to approach the court with an appeal to review two-three points like one-state-one-vote, cooling-off period and three-member selection committee. Representatives of Maharashtra, UP and MP advocated such a line.

“For anything to work, the committee has to come up with a report in time for the general body to hand it over to the CoA. It involves a race against time. Moreover, it again sends a message that the BCCI is resisting changes. We had an assurance form CoA that the court would be requested to review these points if we accepted everything else. By not doing so, maybe we have eliminated that option,” said the president of another state body.

Other than the CoA, petitioner in the case against BCCI Aditya Verma too is likely to point out to the court where he thinks the BCCI has flouted orders. “Several members attending the meeting are disqualfied. When the court opens on July 3, I’ll bring this to the court’s notice,” he said.

(Courtesy: The New Indian Express)

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