Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Mar 16: In a significant direction, the High Court today directed Committee of Administrators (CoA) as appointed by the court not to hold the elections for the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) till a final decision in the matter is taken.
The Division Bench of Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey and Justice Puneet Gupta after hearing the matter for the last four days reserved all the matters pertaining to JKCA for judgment and till then put the proposed elections for the office bearers of Association in abeyance.
The DB directed the CoA to look into the routine day to day affairs of the Association only. Court has left free for all the parties in the matter to submit their written arguments by or before March 22 through bench secretary of the court.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on first day of hearing in the matter had sought permission from the court for appointment of adhoc committee formed by the Board to hold the affairs, management and administration of J&K Cricket Association (JKCA) alleging that the present management has failed to implement the court directions in letter and spirit.
The senior counsel Sunil Sethi appearing for the BCCI had submitted before the court that the present Administrators of JKCA with CEO as appointed by the court were obliged under law to hold the free and fair elections of JKCA and to amend the constitution of JKCA in conformity with the Lodha Panel within two months as directed by the court.
Advocate Sethi informed the court that even after a gap of more than two and half years neither the constitution has been amended nor were elections of the JKCA held till date. He added that the Administrator as also the CEO are running the affairs of JKCA in contrast to the basic spirit of direction contained in the DB judgment of this court and the orders of Supreme court.
Senior advocate Mohsin Qadri appearing on behalf of various clubs also informed the court that the Administrators and CEO have amended the JKCA rules in contravention of the mandate of law given by the court as also against the Lodha Committee which he said, is approved by the Supreme Court. He further added that the Administrators and CEO withdrew the memberships as well as voting rights of the cricketing clubs who were members of JKCA.
The division bench after hearing the parties at length, heard the matter finally and reserved the same for final judgment in order to settle the issues related to the affairs of Association and inter-se disputes of clubs.
The BCCI in this connection had already moved an application mentioning therein that the board has received certain complaints against the present Administrators and CEO with regard to holding the affairs of JKCA.
“Committee of Administrators of JKCA and CEO are deliberately trying to create disputes by excluding the affiliate clubs by forming District Committees. Administrators as well as JKCA CEO have no authority to go beyond the scope of order of Supreme Court as such the affairs, functions, administration and management of JKCA may be permitted to be taken over by the adhoc committee formed by BCCI”, the BCCI submitted in its application.
The number of litigations in different courts came to be filed by two factions one headed by Dr Farooq Abdullah and another led by Imran Raza Ansari from 2015 claiming to be the office bearers of JKCA which as per the BCCI has hampered the object of promoting the cricket activities in the Association.
The Division Bench while deciding the matters finally on October 2017 appointed an ombudsman for settlement of disputes among the clubs and JKCA and apart from appointment of two Administrators namely C K Prasad (retired Supreme Court Judge) and Syed Rafat Alam (the then Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh) also appointed Ashiq Hussain Bukhari (retired IPS) as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for running the affairs of JKCA till rules are amended and elections are held.
It as per guidelines provided by Lodha penal, Administrators and CEO with BCCI was required to incorporate recommendations of the Lodha Committee in the rules of Association and then to conduct the election of JKCA in accordance with the guidelines provided by the Lodha Committee.
Supreme Court has already directed that all office bearers of BCCI and its affiliated State Associations which fail to meet the norms recommended by the Lodha Committee as accepted by apex court shall forthwith demit and cease to hold the office.
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