CHENNAI: Amid the Supreme Court’s decision to ask BCCI office-bearers to show cause for not implementing reform orders, which may lead to expulsion if replies are not satisfactory, there was a bit of a good news for the board. While asking the CoA to submit a redrafted Constitution for the BCCI in accordance with its earlier order, the court added that three points be left out.
One of these being the contentious one-state-one-vote proposal, it was received warmly by the board members, who had opposed this point vehemently. The court also said that the matter of taking away voting rights of Railways, Services and Universities should not be part of the new constitution, along with the Lodha panel recommendation reducing members of national selection committees from five to three.
The new constitution to be submitted in court on September 19 — when the three office-bearers have also been asked to appear — will not have these restrictions. Along with a few other points, the board had been fighting for these. So even if acting president CK Khanna, secretary Amitabh Chaudhary and treasurer Anirudh Choudhry get ready to answer tough questions, several BCCI members were breathing a sigh of relief.
“This is one of the major demands we had, as we thought that the one-state-one-vote policy would undermine the importance and contributions of units that have served the game for a long time,” said the head of a West Zone state, which would have been able to vote once in three years had the rule come in place. “If what the court has said means that this rule will not be implemented, this is good news.”
This proposal said that the associations of Gujarat, Baroda, Saurashtra (from Gujarat) and Mumbai, Maharashtra, Vidarbha (from Maharashtra) take turns in voting, one from each state every year. Almost the entire board opposed this, arguing that it devalues cricketing legacy. “We don’t have problems with Manipur, Mizoram voting. But there shouldn’t be a situation when they vote and Mumbai or Gujarat doesn’t. Thankfully, it’s been taken care of,” said the official.
During the hearing at Supreme Court on Wednesday, the BCCI counsel also raised other contentious points like a cooling-off period of three years between each term for office-bearers. Justice Dipak Misra did not reject or approve it, but said this will be heard on September 19. The BCCI members can take heart also from this, since the door is not closed on it either.
All in all, on a day the show-cause notices cast a shadow over the future of three office-bearers, there was consolation for BCCI. Considering that one-state-one-vote was a major issue, this is no small consolation either.
atreyo@newindianexpress.com