The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : HC declines to restrain BCCI

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Friday, Sep 01, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

HC declines to restrain BCCI

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has declined to restrain the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from conducting any election for office-bearers of the Board and from disbursing grants and benefits to any of its member-associations.

Justice K. Raviraja Pandian, dismissing the stay petition filed by the Cricket Association of Pondicherry (CAP), however, admitted the matter and ordered notices to the BCCI and the Pondicherry State Sports Council.

In its petition, the CAP alleged that the BCCI was adopting a discriminatory attitude in the matters of awarding memberships and grants. While Maharashtra and Gujarat had four and three members respectively, the States of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal had two members each. "Whereas, other states like Bihar, Uttaranchal, Chhattisgarh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Union Territories of Pondicherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands did not have a single representation in the capacity of Full Member of the BCCI. They are prevented from participating in any national cricket competition."

Maintaining that Tamil Nadu cannot have any jurisdiction or control over the Union Territory of Pondicherry, the petitioner said that due to "deliberate and arbitrary acts" of the BCCI and the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) not a single player from Pondicherry was permitted to participate in any competitive cricket.

"With utter malafide motive to stop the entire game of cricket in the territory of Pondicherry, the persons at the helm of affairs of the TNCA are even giving out open threats to the petitioner (P. Damodaren, honorary secretary of CAP)," the petition alleged. It added that several representations from the CAP, and even the Pondicherry Chief Minister, to the BCCI had not evoked any positive response with regard to granting full member status to the CAP.

He said a duty had been cast upon the BCCI to ensure that the promotion of the game of cricket was "equitably done," the petitioner prayed for a direction to the BCCI to accord full membership to the CAP.

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