The Hindu : National : Plea to publicise cricket selection meeting minutes dismissed

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Saturday, Jan 07, 2006

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Plea to publicise cricket selection meeting minutes dismissed

Legal Correspondent

Not a case in which judicial interference is necessary: court

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a public interest petition seeking a direction to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to make public the minutes of the selection committee meeting, which excluded Sourav Ganguly for the Ahmedabad Test match against Sri Lanka played last month.

"This is not a case in which judicial interference is necessary," said a three-judge Bench comprising Justices Ruma Pal, A.R. Lakshmanan and Dalveer Bhandari.

In his petition, Kishore Kumar Malviya said that after Sharad Pawar was elected BCCI president, three new members were inducted in the committee with Kiran More as chairman. It included Ganguly for the first two Tests in Chennai and Delhi. At the December 14, 2005 meeting, the committee dropped him for the third Test and the reason was not convincing.

Mr. Malviya said veteran cricketers and fans of Ganguly protested against his exclusion. People staged agitations and went on a hunger-strike. This situation was not conducive to the future of cricket as a game.

He sought a direction to the BCCI to scrap the selection committee as it lacked experience, to constitute a panel of national selectors having a minimum of 10 to 15 years of experience of playing Tests and one-day internationals, and to formulate guidelines and criteria for the constitution of the selection committee to avoid favouritism and malice.

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