1 os-wp-2550-09 pdp IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO.2550 OF 2009 Cricket Association of Bihar ) a Society registered under the Society) Registration Act having its head ) office at B/607, Lotus Apartment, ) New Patliputra Colony, Patna-800013) Bihar through its working President ) Mr. Prem Ranjan Patel )..PETITIONER Versus 1.The Board of Control for Cricket ) in India, a registered Society under ) the Societies Registration Act having) its Administrative Office situated at ) Cricket Center, Wankhede Stadium, ) 2 os-wp-2550-09 Mumbai, through its Honorary ) Secretary Mr. N. Srinivasan ) 2.Mr. N. Srinivasan, Honorary ) Secretary, Board of Control for ) Cricket in India, Wankhede Stadium ) Mumbai-20. ) 3.Jharkhand State Cricket Association) Keenan Stadium, Straight Mile ) Sakchi, Jamshedpur-831001 ) 4.Mr. Amitabh Chowdhary, s/o. Late ) Shri S.N.Chaudhry, President, ) Jharkhand State Cricket Association) Keenan Stadium, Straight Mile ) Sakchi, Jamshedpur-831001 )..RESPONDENTS Mr. Ajit Kumar Sinha, Sr. Advocate a/w Mr. M. S. Bhardwaj, Mr. Chandrasekhar Varma, Mr. Jitendra Mishra, Mr. Vinay Masurkar for petitioners. Mr. T. N. Subramaniam, Sr. Advocate i/by Vishwajit Sawant for respondent Nos. 1 and 2. Mr. Jitendra Singh, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Ramchandra Yadav, Mr. Rajiv Kumar Singh for respondent Nos.3 and 4. 3 os-wp-2550-09 CORAM: B. H. MARLAPALLE & A. A. SAYED, JJ. RESERVED ON : SEPTEMBER 24, 2010 PRONOUNCED ON : DECEMBER 13, 2010. JUDGMENT (PER B. H. MARLAPALLE, J.) 1. In this petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India the report dated 8th March, 2008 submitted by the three Member Committee of respondent No.1 has been brought in question. The last two concluding paragraphs of the said report read thus:- “32. Similarly the prayers for affiliation as a member of the Board made by the ABC and the CAB before us cannot be considered by us and such affiliation can only be achieved by applying to the Board in the manner prescribed under Rule 6 of the Rules and Regulations of the Board, which application would be considered on its merits in accordance with the Rules & Regulations of the Board. 4 os-wp-2550-09 33. The Committee therefore concludes that the original Bihar Cricket Association with its headquarters at Keenan Stadium, Jamshedpur, subsequently renamed as the Jharkhand State Cricket Association, Kennan Stadium, Jamshedpur, is the Full Member of the Board as provided under Clause 3 of the Rules and Regulations of the Board, if the newly formed associations from the State of Bihar are desirous of membership of the Board, they will need to apply to the Board for affiliate membership which application would be considered in accordance with the Rules and Regulations of the Board.” 2. The petitioner is an association registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 with its head office at B-607, Lotus Apartment, New Patliputra Colony, Patna, Bihar and the petition is filed through its working President Shri Prem Ranjan Patel. The respondent No.1 is the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which is a registered society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and it has its administrative office at Cricket Center, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. The substantial reliefs prayed for in this petition read as 5 os-wp-2550-09 under:- “(a) This Hon'ble Court be pleased to quash and set aside the decision of the special committee of the Board for Control of Cricket in India B.C.C.I., Respondent No.1, dated 08.03.2008 by which it has been held that the JSCA is the changed name of the Original Bihar Cricket Association and the claim of the petitioner association cannot be accepted as the petitioner association is a new association and as per the rules and regulation of B.C.C.I., the full membership cannot be granted to the petitioner association. (b) For a direction to the respondent No.1 to grant full membership to the petitioner association as it has been granted to Jharkhand State Cricket Association which is a new association formed in 2003-2004.” 3. Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) was established in the year 1935 with its headquarters at Jamshedpur and since its inception, it has been a Full Member of the B.C.C.I., and represented all the 43 6 os-wp-2550-09 districts of the unified State of Bihar. The Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000 came into force on 15th November, 2000 and the State of Bihar has been bifurcated into two different States namely Bihar and Jharkhand. The present State of Bihar has 30 districts whereas Jharkhand has 13 districts. After the formation of two different States a special general body meeting of the B.C.A. was held on 7th January, 2001 wherein it was decided to have two separate Cricket Associations for the two newly formed States i.e. Bihar Cricket Association (with headquarter at Patna) and Jharkhand State Cricket Association (with headquarter at Jamshedpur). It was also decided that on the basis of the bifurcated list of members, elections to the respective Cricket Associations will be held sometime in May/June, 2001. In pursuance of the said decision Shri Lalu Prasad Yadav was elected as the President of the B.C.A.(Patna) on 20th May, 2001 and Shri Amitabh Chouwdhary was elected as the President of Jharkhand State Cricket Association (Jamshedpur) on 13th May, 2001. The B.C.A. (Patna) shifted its headquarter to Patna. Dispute arose between the two Cricket Associations regarding the Full Membership of B.C.C.I. In the working committee meeting of the BCCI held on 25/8/2001, its then President Dr. A.C. Muthiah by his individual ruling had held that BCA (Patna) 7 os-wp-2550-09 would continue to exist as the original BCA and whosoever was in the management of BCA (Patna) will be entitled to vote in the Annual General Meeting of BCCI. Being aggrieved by the said decision, Writ Petition (PIL) No. 4507 of 2001 came to be filed before the High Court of Jharkhand and on 28/9/2001, a Division Bench of the said court was pleased to direct that the issue regarding the right to vote in the BCCI election be placed before its full house which shall decide the same issue after taking all the established norms, conventions, instances and facts into account. On 29/9/2001 when the AGM of BCCI was held, the President of BCCI reaffirmed his earlier decision dated 25/8/2001. But on the second day of the AGM i.e. on 30/9/2001 when the provisions of Rule 6 of BCCI Rules and Regulations were brought to the notice of the House, a unanimous decision was adopted and resolved by BCCI empowering the new President to decide the dispute between the two cricket associations. The newly elected President of BCCI revoked the earlier ruling given by his predecessor and the Working Committee meeting held on 26/11/2001 ratified the said decision. The Working Committee also resolved, for the purposes of convenience of identity, to accept that the full member cricket association would be called as BCA (1935) and that it would continue to represent both the States. 8 os-wp-2550-09 4. In August, 2002, BCA (Patna) filed Title Suit No.20 of 2002 at Patna seeking injunction on the ground that it was the original BCA at Jamshedpur. On 7/9/2002, the learned Munsif rejected the temporary injunction application in the said suit. On 28/8/2003 BCA (1935) with headquarters at Jamshedpur came to be registered as a society under the Societies Registration Act 1860 by the Registrar General of Jharkhand. On 15/8/2004 BCA (1935) held its Special General Meeting and unanimously resolved to change the name of BCA to “Jharkhand State Cricket Association” (JSCA). The changed name was intimated to the BCCI and it was approved in its Special General Meeting held on 12/9/2004. The 75th AGM of BCCI ratified the said decision on 29th/30th September, 2004 and consequently, amended its Memorandum as well as the Rules and Regulations. It was further resolved to grant associate membership affiliation to the newly formed Bihar, Chattisgarh and Uttaranchal cricket bodies. In the said meeting, election for the Working Committee for the year 2004-05 was held and JSCA was elected to the said Committee. 5. On 25/10/2005, the Supreme Court appointed, with the 9 os-wp-2550-09 consent of the parties, Shri T.S. Krishnamurthy, former Chief Election Commissioner to resolve the disputes in the run up to the right to vote in the ensuing elections of BCCI. Accordingly, Shri Krishnamurthy submitted his report on 5/12/2005 and stated that BCA (Patna) was a newly created association and JSCA was the original BCA (1935). By taking this report on record, the Supreme Court disposed the SLP on 12/12/2005 with liberty to agitate their objections against the same before the appropriate forum. Consequently, BCA (Patna) filed Civil Suit No. 274 of 2006 before the Madras High Court against the BCCI for a declaration that the plaintiff continued to remain full member of the BCCI. On 6/4/2006, the counsel for BCCI made a statement before the Madras High Court in the said suit that the status of BCA (Patna) would be decided in the Working Committee scheduled to be held on 9/4/2006. The Working Committee accordingly resolved on 9/4/2006 to place the matter before the Special General Meeting, which was held on 1/6/2006 at Mumbai. In the said meeting, the representative of JSCA was prevented from participating and the SGM appointed a three member Committee to resolve the issue between the two associations. In Writ Petition No. 3071 of 2006 filed before the High Court of Jharkhand, this decision to constitute a three member committee came 10 os-wp-2550-09 to be challenged. On 20/6/2006, while issuing notice, High Court of Jharkhand directed the BCCI that the report, if any, submitted by the three member committee shall be subject to the result of the writ petition. On 16/7/2006 the three member committee submitted its report and concluded recommendations made were as under:- “(a) The Committee, therefore, feels that the Board does not recognise the the bifurcated State of Bihar and would continue to recognise Bihar Cricket Association, as its Member as it existed before the bifurcation of the State. (b) The Bihar Cricket Association, as it existed before the bifurcation will be the Member of the Board, they shall hold their election and elect their Office Bearers, which should be recognised by the Board. The said process of election should be completed within a period of 3 months from the date of decision of the General Body of the Board. 5A. The above report was adopted by the BCCI in its General 11 os-wp-2550-09 Body Meeting held on 16/8/2006 at Chennai. But, in the meanwhile, on 7/8/2006, the High Court of Jharkhand passed the following order in Writ Petition No. 3071 of 2006:- “1. Mr. Ravi Shankar, Senior Counsel, appearing for the Board of Control for Cricket in India, prays for and is allowed two weeks time to enable the Board of Control for Cricket in India to take a final decision on the report submitted by Three Men Committee. 2. The Board of Control for Cricket in India is also allowed to take a decision on the report submitted by Three Men Committee, but is prohibited from giving effect to such decision without prior permission of the Court. Let the case be listed under the heading “For Orders” on 1st September, 2006, so that the case may be disposed of on the next date.” 6. When the said Petition appeared before the High Court again on 7/9/2006, the High Court modified its earlier order dated 7/8/2006 and directed that till further orders, JSCA shall be allowed to 12 os-wp-2550-09 participate in the meetings of BCCI and also to participate in the elections and exercise the right to vote. 7. The above order passed by the High Court of Jharkhand came to be challenged by the BCCI in SLP (Civil) No. 15596 of 2006 along with other orders arising from Civil Suit No. 274 of 2006. On 31/8/2007, the Supreme Court passed the following order: “Heard learned counsel for the parties. Intervention applications are allowed. Dr. A.M. Singhvi, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner-Board for Control of Cricket in India, stated that the Board shall constitute a Committee for deciding the disputes, between the parties, which is subject-matter in these cases, for which prayer has been made for adjourning the cases for four months. Permission accorded. The committee shall decide the entire matter after hearing all the parties without being prejudiced by any observations in the report submitted by earlier Committee.” 13 os-wp-2550-09 8. The B.C.C.I., therefore, constituted a committee of 3 members i.e. (1) Mr. M.P. Pandove, (2) Mr. Chirayu Amin and (3) Mr. Sanjay Jagdale. It also issued letters to the office bearers of the following bodies to attend the Special Committee meeting scheduled on 15th December, 2007:- 1.Bihar Cricket Association, Patna (Mr. Ajay Sharma) 2.Association of Bihar Cricket, Patna (Mr.Kirti Azad) 3.Jharkhand State Cricket Association, Ranchi (Mr.Amitabh Choudhary) 4.Cricket Association of Jharkhand (Mr. Muthu Raman) 5.Cricket Association of Bihar, Patna (Mr. Aditya Verma). After considering the submissions made by these rival Associations and the record/records placed before it, the Special Committee of 3 Members submitted its report dated 8th March, 2008 and the said report was placed before the Supreme Court in SL.P. (Civil) Appeal No.15596 of 2006. On 16th April, 2008 the Supreme Court was pleased to dispose off the S.L.P., Writ Petition and the Contempt Petition by the following order:- 14 os-wp-2550-09 “Pursuant to order dated 31st August, 2007, passed by this Court, a Committee was constituted for deciding the disputes between the parties, which has submitted a report dated 8th March, 2008. In our view, if any of the parties feel aggrieved by the report, it would be open to them to challenge the same before an appropriate forum. Learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the writ petitioner before the High Court made a prayer for withdrawal of the Writ Petition(c) No.3071 of 2006, pending before the Jharkhand High Court. We permit the writ petitioner in the writ petition to withdraw the same. “ 9. Pursuant to the liberty granted by the Supreme Court to challenge the report dated 8th March, 2008 this Writ Petition has been filed. 10. The moot question that falls for our consideration is whether the report dated 8th March, 2008 calls for any interference in this petition and more particularly so as to grant any of the reliefs prayed for by the petitioner. Let us, therefore, reproduce the substantial 15 os-wp-2550-09 prayer clauses, as under:- “(a) This Hon’ble Court be pleased to quash and set aisde the decision of the special committee of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (B.C.C.I.), Respondent No.1, dated 08.03.2008 by which it has been held that the JSCA is the changed name of the Original Bihar Cricket Association and the claim of the petitioner association cannot be accepted as the petitioner association is a new association and as per the rules and regulation of B.C.C.I. the full membership cannot be granted to the petitioner association. (b) For a direction to the respondent no.1 to grant full membership to the petitioner association as it has been granted to the Jharkhand State Cricket Association which is a new association formed in 2003-2004.” 11. It is pertinent to note at this stage that right from the time it was decided in the meeting held on 7th January, 2001 to bifurcate the 16 os-wp-2550-09 B.C.A. into B.C.A., Patna and Jharkhand State Cricket Association (Ranchi) the dispute to be settled by B.C.C.I. regarding the Full Membership was only between these two Associations and each one of them claimed to be the successor of B.C.A. (1935). However, it appears that Shri Kirti Azad, President of the Association of Bihar Cricket (A.B.C.), Mr. Muthu Raman, President, Cricket Association of Jharkhand (C.A.J.) and the Secretary of the present petitioner Mr. Aditya Verma were also issued notices on 29th November, 2007 by the B.C.C.I., to appear before the Special Committee constituted pursuant to the order passed by the Supreme Court. Under these circumstances, we do not agree with the submissions made by the learned Counsel for the respondents that the petitioner has no locus standi to challenge the report dated 8th March, 2008. It could not be, even prima facie, shown that the present petitioner was not before the Supreme Court when the order dated 16th April, 2008 was passed and on the contrary all these associations were interveners in the Special Leave Petition. 12. The Respondent No.2 has filed affidavit in reply on behalf of respondent Nos. 1 and 2 and respondent No.4 has filed affidavit in reply on behalf of respondent Nos. 3 and 4 so as to oppose the petition 17 os-wp-2550-09 on the ground of maintainability as well as on merits. As per Respondent No.1 it is governed and bound by its Memorandum and Rules and Regulations and a Writ Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution would not be maintainable against it unless a case is made out that it has acted contrary to any such Rules. However, an enquiry as to rightful claimant of Full Membership cannot a matter of judicial review under Article 226 of the Constitution and the issue of legality of change of name or its registration cannot be gone into in this petition. As such the remedy for the said reliefs, lies somewhere else. It has also been pointed out that the very same report dated 8th March, 2008 has been challenged by the present petitioner in Writ Petition No.749 of 2008 filed before the High Court at Patna on 5th May, 2008 and unless the said petition has been withdrawn with liberty to file this petition, it would would be just and proper that the instant petition is dismissed as not maintainable. On merits it has been contended by respondent No.1 that the Special Committee Meeting was held on 8th March, 2008 and all the 3 members were present so as to take into consideration the submissions made by all the parties in the earlier meeting held on 15th December, 2007 and after deliberations the said report was prepared. It was placed before the Supreme Court and though liberty was granted to 18 os-wp-2550-09 the parties to agitate against any grievance, before an appropriate forum, the Supreme Court did not note or record anything adverse against the said report. 13. As per the respondent No.4 the petitioner Association is a facade created by Mr. Aditya Prakash Verma and his associates including his associates including Mr. Alok Raj who were all the members of the respondent No.3. It is also alleged that Mr. Aditya Prakash Verma has also created another fictitious body called the Saran District Cricket Association and the said Association is one of the petitioners in Writ Petition No.7491 of 2008, presently pending before the High Court at Patna. It is also contended that the reliefs prayed for in the said petition pending before the High Court at Patna and in this petition are the same i.e. for quashing the Special Committee Report dated 8th March, 2008 and by which the respondent No.3 has been held to be the Full Member of the B.C.C.I. It is also alleged that the petitioner Association has been created for the first time in the year 2007 and, therefore, it is a complete stranger to the disputes between B.C.A. (Patna) and Jharkhand State Cricket Association (Jamshedpur) and, therefore, it has no locus standi to challenge the report of the 19 os-wp-2550-09 Special Committee. On merits it has been pointed out that the Bihar Cricket Association (1935) at Jamshedpur has been a Full Member of the B.C.C.I., right from its inception and it came to be registered on 28/8/2003 under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 by the Registrar of Societies, Jamshedpur, which was subsequently renamed as the Jharkhand State Cricket Association and the said change in name was also intimated to the Registrar under the Societies Registration Act for Jharkhand State who in turn has incorporated the said change. Thus the respondent No.3 is the rightful successor of original B.C.A. (Jamshedpur) and it has been rightly recognised as a Full Member. It is also pointed out that the B.C.A. Patna has already been granted associate membership by the B.C.C.I., and therefore, it can take care of the cricket in the State of Bihar. 14. The BCCI has its Memorandum of Association and framed Rules and Regulations. Under the Memorandum of Association, the aims and objects of the Board are listed and some of the relevant ones are reproduced as under:- 20 os-wp-2550-09 (a) To control the game of cricket in India and give its decision on all matters including women's cricket which may be referred to it by any member associate in India; (b) To encourage the formation of State, Regional or other Cricket Associations and the organization of Inter- State and other Tournaments; (e) To promote the game throughout India by organizing coaching schemes, establishing coaching academies, holding tournaments, exhibition matches, Test Matches, ODI's, Twenty/20, any other matches and by any other manner; (f) To foster the spirit of sportsmanship and the ideals of cricket amongst school, college and university students and others and educate them in the same. (g) To frame the Laws of Cricket in India and to make alteration, amendments or addition to the laws of cricket in India whenever desirable or necessary; (n) To lay out any ground for playing the game and for other purposes and to provide pavilion, canteen and other conveniences and amenities in connection therewith; (o) To impart physical education through the medium of cricket and take all steps to assist the citizens to develop their physique; (r ) To take such action as may be necessary to coordinate the activities of affiliated associations, institutions and their members in relation to the Board and amongst themselves; (s) To select teams to represent India in Test Matches, One Day International and Twenty/20 matches played in 21 os-wp-2550-09 India or abroad, and to select such other teams as the Board may decide from time to time.” 15. The Rules and Regulations set out the procedure for grant of its membership to the cricket associations all over India. The BCCI has five zones i.e. North Zone, South Zone, East Zone, West Zone and Central Zone. It has three types of memberships as stated in Rule 1(b) i.e., (i) “Member” means a Full Member and includes its representative. (ii) “An Associate Member” means an Association admitted as an Associate Member under the Rule 3(iii) of the Rules and Regulations and includes its representative. (iii) “Affiliate Member” means any State which is not covered by any Full Member or Associate Member, may be admitted as an Affiliate Member but shall not include any union territory. In the East Zone, JSCA is included and it is the Board 22 os-wp-2550-09 which decides the zone in which an Associate Member, promoted as Full Member, shall fall. As per Rule 3, the membership of the Board shall be confined to (a) Full Members, (b) Associate Members and (c) Affiliate Members. The list of Full Members and Associate Members has been set out in the Rules. It is further stated under Rule 3 that there shall be no direct affiliation to the Board as a Full Member or as an Associate Member. As per Rule 3(a)(iii), the Central controlling body for cricket in any State within the territory of India other than union territory and approved by the Board as Associate Member and under Rule 3(a)(iv) any State within India which is not covered by either Full Member or Associate Member other than the union territory may be admitted as Affiliate Member. Rule 6 provides for the procedure for promotion of an Associate Member to a Full Member and an Affiliate Member to an Associate Member. It would be appropriate to reproduce the said Rule. “6(A) PROCEDURE FOR PROMOTION OF AN ASSOCIATE MEMBER TO A FULL MEMBER An Associate Member may be promoted as a Full Member on fulfillment of the following conditions: 23 os-wp-2550-09 (i) If the said member is an Associate Member for a continuous period of five