BCCI sees relief in order to table suggestions

CHENNAI: The Supreme Court's instruction to the BCCI office-bearers and state associations on Tuesday to submit suggestions on the revised constitution of the cricket board has been received with a sense of relief. If the court not upholding the CoA's plea to sack the office-bearers is one reason, hope that the contentious points including 'one-state-one-vote' would be reviewed is another.

The three-member special bench headed by CJI Dipak Misra has asked the states and office-bearers to submit suggestions to the amicus curiae by May 11. The apex court closes for over a month from May 20 for summer vacation.

Finding as many as at least 10 objections against the constitution proposed by the Lodha commission initially, the BCCI members had to bring them down to three-four after the court granted than certain points could be reviewed. They had requested to reconsider the rules pertaining to one vote per state, rotational voting for multiple units from one region and three members in the selection committee instead of five.

Members of the BCCI Express spoke to seemed relieved that instead of rejecting appeals regarding these and sacking the acting president, secretary and treasurer, the court wants to hear them out before endorsing the draft constitution submitted by the CoA in October.

“Although there is nothing new to offer by way of suggestion, we will submit what we had earlier. We have nothing against new members (Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Bihar) getting voting rights. Our view is that existing members should continue to have the right to vote. Other units may have other things to say, but we have to stick to the few basic points,” said the secretary of a state association.

According to a senior BCCI member, the court asking for these suggests it's willing to reconsider a few things. “Earlier, suggestions had to be given regarding matters related to the Lodha recommendations. Now, we can list things which may not be part of these," said the member, who will be among those offering suggestions.

“Following the Lodha commission recommendations blindly can lead to practical problems. It has resulted in a loss of the BCCI's power and authority in world cricket. It seems the court has recognised this and invited suggestions on what works better for the board. After some time, it seems the litigation is heading towards a direction which not adversarial,” he said.

After receiving the suggestions, the court is expected to pass an order on the constitution the BCCI and state units have to follow. Until then, no state unit can hold elections, said the court, which stops the Maharashtra Cricket Associations from going to polls on May 2.

atreyo@newindianexpress.com