Andhra Pradesh High Court - Amravati
The Chittoor District Cricket ... vs The State Of Ap on 15 November, 2024
1
APHC010296982023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH
AT AMARAVATI [3310]
(Special Original Jurisdiction)
FRIDAY ,THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF NOVEMBER
TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FOUR
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE K MANMADHA RAO
WRIT PETITION NO: 15210/2023
Between:
The Chittoor District Cricket Association and Others ...PETITIONER(S)
AND
The State Of Ap and Others ...RESPONDENT(S)
Counsel for the Petitioner(S):
1. N BHARAT BABU
Counsel for the Respondent(S):
1. GP FOR TOURISM(AP)
2. N RAVI PRASAD
3. K KRISHNABUSHANCHOWDARY
The Court made the following:
ORDER:
This writ petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for the following relief:
"......to issue a writ or direction more particularly a writ of Mandamus To declare the action of the 3rd respondent in inducting the social clubs as Full members with voting rights under Regulation 3aiiD of the ACA regulations as illegal improper and contrary to recommendations of the Justice Lodha committee and order of the Honble Supreme Court of India in Board of Control of Cricket in India Vs Cricket Association of Bihar reported in (2018)9 SCC 624 to 2 declare that the clubs mentioned in Regulation 3(a)(ii)(D) or any other clubs are not eligible to acquire full membership along with voting rights in the 3rd respondent association as per the recommendations of the Justice Lodha committee and order of the Apex Court direct the 2nd respondent to take necessary steps for deletion of social clubs as full members of the ACA 3rd respondent as per Justice Lodha Committee Recommendations or to stop disbursement of funds to the ACA for noncomplaince of the Justice Lodha committee recommendations And pass..."
2. Brief facts of the case are that the 1st petitioner is a District Cricket Association which is a full member of the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA/R-
2). It was illegally kept under suspension from the year 2016. The said suspension was challenged before the Civil court, but it was opposed by the ACA stating that the petitioner shall approach the Ombudsman, therefore, Case No.9/2020 was filed before the Ombudsman. The order of suspension was set-aside on 10.1.2023 by holding that suspension was illegal, arbitrary and vindictive. Aggrieved by the same, WP No.5867/2023 was filed, and this Court has suspended the order of the Ombudsman vide order dated 10.3.2023. It is further stated that the 2nd petitioner is a level-1 Cricket coach recognized by the BCCI and incidentally the present President of the 1st petitioner Association. The 2nd respondent always strived for betterment of cricket and pointed out irregularities in the ACA several times, and was unjustly punished the ACA by imposing life time ban on him from membership and eventually the Learned Ombudsman in Case No.5/2020 by its order dated 21.11.2021 declared that life time ban and expulsion as illegal by holding the said action amounts to harassment. The 2nd petitioner is a former cricket player and presently a coach, and hence interested in better administration of Cricket in the State of AP. He is also the President of Chittoor District Cricket 3 Association. The 2nd petitioner as President of CDCA earlier filed WPNo.26559/2022 seeking several reliefs including disqualification of the President, inclusion of social clubs etc. But the smae was withdrawn with liberty on 14.12.2022.
It is further stated that, in view of the betting scam and irregularities in the affairs and administration of BCCI, the Hon'ble Apex Court in Board of Control of Cricket in India vs. Cricket Association of Bihar & Ors 1, directed appointment of Three-Men Committee headed by Hon'ble Sri Justice R.M.Loda to examine the aspects and submit its report. Thereafter, the Committee has submitted its report on 14.7.2015. Among other issues bothering issues lying in the affairs of the BCCI, the Lodha Committee also came across the issues of membership and structure of BCCI. On examination of the existing structure of the BCCI, the Committee found certain anomalies. The committee found that existence of clubs and individuals as members is cause for several anomalies. Lodha Committee also gave necessary recommendations in order to achieve uniformity in the Constitution and functioning of the various associations and one such recommendation is to divorce the social clubs from the administration of the Cricket.
It is further stated that the Hon'ble Apex Court in a case of Board of Control of Cricket in India vs. Cricket Association of Bihar2, while approving the Draft constitution submitted by the COA on 27.10.2017, the Apex Court 1 (2015) 3 SCC 251 2 2018(9) SCC 624 4 directed that each member of the BCCI shall undertake registration of their respective constitutions on similar lines within a period of 30 days and COA was directed to file a status report before the Court. It is further stated that the 3rd respondent/ACA registered its bye-laws in the same lines of the BCCI Regulations, but mischievously granted full membership to all its affiliated social clubs, contrary to the recommendation made by Justice Lodha Committee and affirmed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India. Questioning the action of the 3rd respondent in inducting the social clubs listed in Regulation 3(a)(ii)(D) as Full Members with voting rights, the present writ petition came to be filed.
3. The counter affidavit has been filed by the 3rd respondent. While denying all the allegations made in the petition contended that, the then management of the 3rd Respondent/ACA, has mentioned it as 6 clubs which is typographical mistake and it has been communicated to the CoA and in-turn the CoA accepted all the Clubs as Full Members. Also the Cricket Clubs will not have territory confining to particular place, to promote the game of Cricket they identify the players, train them and sponsor them to the State Teams. All these Cricket Clubs are age old Clubs. In Hyderabad there are about 4000 Cricket Clubs apart from the District Associations as Full Members in the State of Telangana, and the State Associations like Mumbai, Chennai, Gujarat etc., they do have lot of clubs which are accepted by the Apex Court appointed CoA. There is no wrong in Cricketing Clubs taking part in administration of Cricketing affairs of the State. For that matter, in the earlier State 5 Associations, when District Associations are not mentioned as Full there were Clubs alone as Full Members. Therefore, entertaining the present writ petition is nothing but re-defining the decisions taken by the CoA appointed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court.
It is further stated that the Apex Members i.e., President, Vice- President, Secretary, Joint-Secretary, Treasurer, they represent different Full Members and they have been unanimously elected by all the 33 Full Members in the Annual General Body Elections 2022-2025. President and Vice- President are brothers; it does not mean that there is conflict of interest in electing brothers. None of the Full Members raised any objection during the elections. The 1st writ petitioner is not a Full Member. The 2nd Petitioner is not competent to challenge the elections since he is not a Full Member. And as mentioned above, both the petitioners do not have locus standi to file the present writ petition. If at all any Full Member is aggrieved, they can file a proper application under Sec 23 of the Societies Registration Act and this Hon'ble Court cannot decide the election petition. It is further stated that, the process of election cannot be interfered by way of a writ petition under Art 226 of the Indian Constitution. The Hon'ble Apex court in BCCI v. Cricket Association of Bihar & Ors arising in Civil Appeal No. 4235 of 2014 vide order dated 30-09-2022 has categorically held that "challenge to the elections which has taken place can be perused by adopting suitable remedies as are open in law. It is neither appropriate nor proper for this Court to enter into a 6 disputed question by entertaining an interlocutory application" Therefore, it is prayed to dismiss the present writ petition.
4. Reply affidavit has been filed by the petitioner to the counter affidavit filed by the respondents. While reiterating the averments made in the petition, denied all the contents made in the counter affidavit. It is stated that that the giving full membership to the clubs with voting rights violates the 'one District - one vote' policy as contemplated by the Lodha Committee recommendations and Apex Court in its Judgment. The Apex court categorically stated that one state should be given only one vote, and if the same principle is applied at the State level, giving full membership with voting rights to the clubs would violate the said policy. Hence, there is no substance in saying that there is no wrong in cricketing clubs taking part in administration of Cricketing Affairs of the state. In fact, the Cricketing clubs are eligible for associate membership, without any voting rights. If the 2nd respondent is given unfettered power to induct any social club according to their whims and fancies, the same would influence the elections forming cartels to hijack the Apex council of the state cricket association. It is further stated that, the President and the Vice- president are real brothers therefore they are immediate family, and they hail from different clubs. It is one of the reason why the Lodha committee despised to give full memberships to the clubs, as they being controlled by few vested interests and sometimes from same family, and they can position themselves to win the elections by influencing the clubs in the electorate, without the support of the legitimate full members, which are, the District Cricket 7 Association. In any case, this is one of the example, among many anomalies pointed out of the Lodha committee in its report. In any case, the clubs cannot continue as Full-members with voting rights, and hence, regulation 3(a) (ii) (D) of ACA regulations has to be declared as not in consonance with Lodha Committee recommendations and the Judgment of the Apex Court. Therefore, prayed to allow this writ petition as prayed for.
5. Heard Sri N. Bharat Babu, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner; Sri K. Krishna Bhushan Chowdary; Sri N. Ravi Prasad, learned counsels appearing for the unofficial respondents and learned Government Pleader for Tourism appearing for the official respondents.
6. On hearing, learned counsel for the petitioner while reiterating the contents made in the petition, requests this Court to pass appropriate orders. Whereas, learned counsels appearing for the respondents have also reiterated the contents made in the counter affidavit and prayed to dismiss the writ petition.
7. As seen from the Memorandum of Association and Rules and Regulations of the Andhra Cricket Association, with regard to Memership and Jurisdiction of Members, reads as under:
MEMBERSHIP AND JURISDICTION OF MEMBERS:
Membership
(a) Membership of the ACA shall be confined to(A) Full Members; and
(b) Associate Members;
(ii) Full Members shall include 8 A. Each District which shall be represented by a District cricket association duly recognized by the ACA and such associations shall be Full Members. No District shall have more than one Full Member, except as provided in Rules 3(a)(ii)(C) and 3(a)(ii)[D] below.
B. The associations who are the controlling bodies for cricket in the following Districts shall be the Full Members of the ACA:
1. Srikakulam (Srikakulam District Boys and Girls Cricket Association) 2 Vizianagaram (Vizianagaram District Cricket Association)
3. Visakhapatnam (Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association) 4 . East Godavari (Boys and Girls Cricket Association of East Godavari District)
5. West Godavari (West Godavari District Cricket Association)
6. Krishna (Krishna District Cricket Association) 7 Guntur (Men and Women Cricket Association of Guntur District)
8. Prakasam (Cricket Prakasam)
9. Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore District (Nellore District Cricket Association)
10. Chittoor ((Boys and Girls Cricket Association of Chittoor District)
11. Kurnool (At present run by ACA Adhoc Committee Kumool District) District Cricket Association, Kurnool
12. Y.S.R.Kadapa District (Kadapa District Cricket Association) 13 Anantapur (Anantapur District Cricket Association) ....
The Existing Clubs are
1. Vizianagaram Cricket Club, Vizianagaram
2. Visakhapatnam Cricket Club, Visakhapatnam
3. Metro Cricket Club, Visakhapatnam
4. Black Shirts Cricket Club, Eluru
5. Sreerama Cricket Club, Eluru
6. Welcome Cricket Club-Vijayawada, Vijayawada
7. Patel Cricket Club-Vijayawada, Vijayawada
8. Guntur Cricket Club, Guntur.
9. The Guntur Recreation Club, Guntur
10. Goparaju Prasad Memorial Cricket Club, Guntur
11. Ravindranagar Cricket Club, Guntur
12. New Cricket Club, Guntur
13. Venkatagiri Samsthanam Cricket Club, Venkatagiri 9
14. Venkatagiri Cricket Club, Venkatagiri
15. Nellore United Cricket Club, Nellore
8. It is also to be noted that Any existing Member who does not fall within the definition of a Full Member shall be an Associate Member of the ACA. The ACA may induct any other entity as an Associate Member subject to all the conditions and disqualifiications laid down in Rule 3(b)(a)(1)(b).
3(a)(1)(b) reads as follows:
b) Grounds for sanction & de-recognition of a Full Member (1) No Member shall be entitled to any grant from the ACA if its Constitution and/or Bye-Laws fails to provide for, or comply with the following:
(i) The Association shall not have any provision for any post tobe held for more than 9years.
(ii) The Governing Body/Managing Committee of the Association shall include at least two representatives of players (one male and one female) and a nominee of the Accountant General of the State.
(iii) The Association shall grant automatic membership to former international players hailing from the Association.
(iv) The Association shall not have proxy voting.
And on a perusal of the report of the Supreme Court Committee on Reforms in Cricket, wherein it is observed with regard to Membership & Privileges, reads as follows:
Membership & Privileges:
Some Member Associations have clubs and individuals as members, some have only clubs as members and others have individuals and patrons as members. There does not seem to be any guideline or basis for membership, and these seem to be ad- hoc, often at the pleasure of the incumbents. Where clubs are members, a few powerful interests control several cricket clubs, thereby positioning themselves for easy election with a sizeable chunk of the convenient electorate. New entrants are discouraged or muzzled out of contention. Some associations 10 exclude even former Indian cricketers from membership (including legendary performers), without any basis, and ensure that the association functions more as a social club controlled by a few families. The priority often seems to be to have an exclusive venue with bar and dining facilities with other recreational avenues for the members, and not the promotion of cricket. Tickets to games are also distributed as largesse among members as entitlement, thereby shrinking their availability to the public at large. In both Chennai and Kolkata for example, it is learnt that the respective stadia at Chepauk and Eden Gardens had been constructed on land which had been leased to the Madras Cricket Club (MCC) and National Cricket Club (NCC) respectively, but now, even with the change in structure, the respective Clubs continue to be housed at the premises. While at NCC, the members have ticket and other entitlements, the same is not so for the MCC.
...
Therefore, it is necessary that there is uniformity in the constitution and functioning of the various associations (without any office being created for life), that membership of social clubs be divorced from the administration of cricket which is a sombre task, that cricketers be made members and have a say in governance and that management be made professional. The State Associations must also create avenues to generate revenue, improve infrastructure and develop the sport, all of which will be marked through a detailed report card. There also has to be an audit and independent oversight of how resources are allocated and spent. It is necessary that all State Associations immediately transition to the use of tamper-proof accounting software which either does not permit alterations or which records all alterations made.
9. In a case of Board of Control for Cricket in India vs. Cricket Association of Bihar3, wherein, the Hon'ble Apex Court held that:
40. Having regard to the fact that the draft constitution submitted by the CoA on 27 October 2017 has now been approved by this Court subject to the aforesaid modifications, we issue the following directions:
! The Registrar of Societies under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 shall upon the presentation of the said Constitution by the CEO, register the documents forthwith and report compliance by way of a report to the Secretary General of this Court within four weeks;
2 Upon the registration of the said Constitution of BCCI, each of the members shall undertake registration of their respective Constitutions on similar lines within a period of 30 days thereafter. A compliance certificate must be furnished to the CoA, which shall file a status report before this Court with reference to the compliance undertaken by the State Associations, and 3 In the event that any State Association does not undertake compliance with the abovesaid directions, the directions contained in the orders of this Court dated 7 October 2016 and 21 October 2016 shall revive.
10. It is the contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner that ACA addressed a letter dated 04.3.2022 to the Committee of Administrators 3 (2018) AIR (SCW) 4179 11 (COA) requesting to correct the number of clubs from 6 to 15. There is no such approval of COA accepting 15 clubs, but the ACA is continuing 15 clubs as full members.
11. However, it is represented by learned counsel for the respondents that the petitioner is continuing as Full member of the Association therefore no orders are required to be passed in the present writ petition and the same may be closed.
12. Having regard to the facts and circumstances and on recording the submissions of both the learned counsels, this Writ Petition is closed. There shall be no order as to costs.
13. As a sequel, interlocutory applications, if any pending, shall stand closed.
______________________________ DR. K. MANMADHA RAO, J.
Date : 15 -11-2024 Gvl 12 HON'BLE DR. JUSTICE K. MANMADHA RAO WRIT PETITION No.15210 of 2023 Date : 15 .11.2024 Gvl 13