There is good news on the anvil for the Indian cricket board’s affiliated state units as their apex council composition is likely to be increased to 19 members, compared to the 9-member team of the BCCI.
With around 30 out of 36 units becoming Lodha Compliant, itis learnt that majority of them have come on board to build consensus about afew modifications that Amicus Curiae PS Narsimha is expected to submit to theSupreme Court on Thursday.
During their meeting with the Amicus, most of the BCCIaffiliated units had expressed their “practical difficulty” on havingan apex council, which is a “mirror image” of the BCCI’s governingbody.
As per the Lodha Committee recommendation, the BCCI apexcouncil will comprise nine members — the president, vice president, secretary,joint secretary, treasurer, two players’ representative (male and female), CAGrepresentative, one member from state unit.
However, with most state units having different votercomposition, the contentious issue is now on the verge of being sorted.
“The learned Amicus has had discussions with Committeeof Administrators (CoA) as well as majority of the affiliated units. It seemsat least 85 percent (30 out of 36) units which are fully compliant are on boardthat 19 is a good number for apex council of state units,” a senior BCCIofficial privy to state unit’s meeting with the Amicus told PTI.
He said that advocate Narsimha was very”co-operative” and acknowledged that apex council is an issue.
“The CoA and the Amicus agree that states units are theones promoting the game in the country. An association like DDCA whichconstitutes individual members has a different fabric compared to CricketAssociation of Bengal (CAB) which has institutional voting. So it couldn’t havebeen a 9 member Apex Council,” the official said.
It is learnt that Karnataka wanted it to be 26 but have nowcome around and agreed to the proposed 19 (16 elected plus two players’representative and one CAG representative).
It is learnt that units like Vidarbha Cricket Association,which was one of the earliest to adopt new constitution, will get a chance tochange the composition of its apex council.
“Vidarbha’s apex council has nine members and they havethe provision of increasing it to 19 now,” the official said.
Most of the state units have requested the Amicus to”speed up the election process” so that a democratically elected body can take over.
It was learnt that even Tamil Nadu Cricket Association is”substantially compliant” even though it has a few persisting issues.
“The discussion between Amicus and Tamil Nadu CA waspositive. TNCA has a few issues primarily related to age cap and tenure ofoffice bearers. However the Amicus has told them that if the August 9, 2018judgement by the CJI bench is changed, Lodha recommendation willcollapse.”
It was learnt that even Haryana CA, which has been perceivedas obstructionist among state units, has also been forthcoming in its onlymeeting with the Amicus.”Haryana CA had one meeting with the Amicusand it went off well. There was a second meeting that was supposed to takeplace but didn’t happen. However they have been forthcoming in their views and toldthe Amicus that they will get back after consultation with their governing bodymembers,” the official said.