Madhya Pradesh High Court
Lohitakash Nema vs Madhya Pradeshcricket Association on 12 August, 2024
Author: Pranay Verma
Bench: Pranay Verma
1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
AT Indore
BEFORE
HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE PRANAY VERMA
WRIT PETITION No. 7536 of 2023
MAYANK AWASTHI
Versus
MADHYA PRADESH CRICKET ASSOCIATION AND ANOTHER
WRIT PETITION No. 24022 of 2023
LOHITAKASH NEMA
Versus
MADHYA PRADESHCRICKET ASSOCIATION AND ANOTHER
WRIT PETITION No. 24679 of 2023
OJAS SHUKLA THROUGH FATHER ASHOK SHUKLA
Versus
MADHYA PRADESH CIRCKET ASSOCIATION AND ANOTHER
WRIT PETITION No. 10257 of 2024
PAVITR PATIL THROUGH HIS FATHER JAGDISH PATIL
Versus
MADHYA PRADESH CRICKET ASSOCIATION AND ANOTHER
WRIT PETITION No. 12737 of 2024
VAIBHAV BATHAM MINOR THROUGH HIS FATHER MANOJ
Versus
MADHYA PRADESH CRICKET ASSOCIATION AND ANOTHER
WRIT PETITION No. 24681 of 2023
MARTAND PRATAP SINGH
Versus
MADHYA PRADESH CRICKET ASSOCIATION AND ANOTHER
WRIT PETITION No. 24682 of 2023
SANSKAR SINGH
Versus
MADHYA PRADESH CRICKET ASSOCIATION AND ANOTHER
2
WRIT PETITION No. 24683 of 2023
RAJVEER VAIDH
Versus
MADHYA PRADESH CIRCKET ASSOCIATION AND ANOTHER
WRIT PETITION No. 26023 of 2023
AAYUSH YADAV THROUGH HIS FATHER SHRI RAJKUMAR
YADAV
Versus
MADHYA PRADESH CRICKET ASSOCIATION AND ANOTHER
Appearance:
Shri Shrey Raj Saxena, learned counsel for the petitioner.
Shri Ajay Bagadia, learned Senior counsel with Shri Gajendra
Singh Chouhan, learned counsel for the respondent No.1.
ORDER
(Reserved on 30/05/2024) (Pronounced on 12/08/2024)
1. Since these petitions raise common questions of facts and law, they have been heard together and are being decided by a common order. Facts are being taken from W.P.No.7536 of 2023.
2. This petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been preferred by the petitioner being aggrieved by the ban imposed upon him by respondent No.1 on the ground that he has 3 tried to get himself registered on the basis of incorrect birth certificate.
3. As per the petitioner he is a professional cricketer currently playing in age group under - 19. On 16/5/2022 he sent a self filled scanned form for registration in the under - 18 S.M. Khan Trophy, 2021-22, attaching therewith his digital birth certificate bearing No.B-2019: 23-90235-005815 with its date of registration being 3/10/2019. In the certificate the date of birth of the petitioner was mentioned as 11/10/2004. He also annexed his Aadhar Card and Class Xth mark sheet along with the form. The petitioner had earlier also registered himself for the previous season wherein he had submitted another date of birth certificate, the date of registration of which was 28/3/2017 and in that also his date of birth was mentioned as 11/10/2004.
4. On 22/6/2022 respondent No.1 issued a letter to Registrar, Birth and Death Registration Department for verifying the authenticity of the certificate submitted by the petitioner. In response the Municipal Corporation, Bhopal stated that the certificate is not registered with it. On the ground that the certificate submitted by the petitioner is not registered with Municipal Corporation 4 complete ban has been imposed upon the petitioner on the ground that he had submitted fake / forged document.
5. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the ban imposed by respondent No.1 upon the petitioner is wholly illegal and arbitrary. In all the documents submitted by the petitioner his date of birth has been the same. The age of the petitioner is nowhere in question and only the veracity of the document has been challenged. In 2017 petitioner's father had gone to Municipal Corporation, Bhopal for applying for the birth certificate of the petitioner and was informed that it would take 15-20 days. He met an agent Late Shri Qayum Ansari who promised him that he will get the certificate within 2-3 days for a sum of Rs.1500/-. The petitioner's father got trapped in his bait and gave him money for obtaining a certificate. On the third day he gave a manual certificate bearing No.0316116008562 bearing registration No.2832017. The certificate looked genuine hence petitioner's father did not doubt the same. He came to know that it is not registered with the Corporation only upon the said fact having been made known to him by respondent No.1. After acquiring knowledge, he lodged a complaint with police station Talaiya 5 against Shri Qayum Ansari. However, it transpired that he has already expired. It is not a case where the petitioner has attempted to cheat respondent No.1 by altering his date of birth. The objective of checking the date of birth certificate is to verify the age of the player. The certificate submitted by the petitioner even though may have been found to be incorrect, ban could not have been imposed upon him only on that ground since it is not the allegation anywhere that the petitioner has tried to manipulate his date of birth and take advantage for playing in under 19 age group. Ban imposed upon the petitioner is hence wholly unwarranted.
6. Reply has been filed by respondent No.1 and the learned Senior counsel for respondent No.1 has submitted that the petitioner has himself admitted that he had submitted a forged document with respondent No.1 hence is not entitled for any relief from this Court. The action taken by respondent No.1 is a discretionary use of power which is uniformly applied to all cases without any discrimination. The petitioner had got himself registered with respondent No.1 for the first time vide registration form dated 13/4/2008. Along with the form he had attached his birth certificate dated 28/3/2017 based upon which he was registered to 6 participate in the tournament conducted by respondent No.1. Meanwhile with effect from the Cricket Season of 2019, Board of Control for Cricket in India made it mandatory for all players to provide a digital version of birth certificate which procedure was also adopted by respondent No.1. For registration for Cricket Season 2021-22 petitioner submitted a registration form dated 16/5/2022 along with a digital birth certificate dated 3/10/2019. This certificate was registered on a different date than the date on which the birth certificate submitted by him earlier was registered. The respondent No.1 hence issued a letter to the Registrar of Birth Center, Bhopal for verification of the authenticity of petitioner's birth certificate dated 28/3/2017. In response respondent No.1 was informed that there is no record in support of the said birth certificate. Since the petitioner had got himself registered on the basis of a forged birth certificate the ban has been imposed upon him which is perfectly justified. On 3/8/2020 the BCCI had declared a One Time Voluntary Disclosure Scheme as per which a player could have disclosed his correct age but the petitioner did not avail of such opportunity. The explanation offered by the petitioner in the petition as regards the circumstances in which his 7 birth certificate was got issued can hardly be an explanation for submitting a forged / fabricated document. It is hence submitted that the petition deserves to be dismissed.
7. I have considered the submissions of the learned counsel for the parties and have perused the record.
8. From the rival contentions of learned counsel for the parties two facts stand admitted. Firstly, the date of birth of the petitioner is 11/10/2004. Secondly, the birth certificate (Annexure P/2) issued on 28/3/2017 in favour of the petitioner was never so issued by Municipal Corporation, Bhopal and is a false document. The question which hence arises for consideration is as to whether only for the reason that such a document was submitted by the petitioner, respondent No.1 is correct in imposing ban upon him.
9. At this stage, it would be apt to consider the relevant provisions in the guidelines / procedure for on-line registration of the players as issued by the BCCI which is applicable upon respondent No.1 as well. The same are contained in point No.18 of the guidelines which is as under :-
"18. Additional measures to eradicate age and domicile fraud in Cricket.
The Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) as the governing body for the sport of Cricket in India is responsible for ensuring that 8 appropriate checks and protocols are put in place to ensure a level playing field for competitive participation of players in its age- group tournaments.
To counter the menace of age fraud in Cricket, BCCI has adopted the below mentioned additional measures which will be applicable to all cricketers participating in the BCCI age-group tournaments, starting 2020-21 season onwards.
1. Voluntary Disclosure Scheme for players who are already registered:
Under this scheme, players who voluntarily declare that they have manipulated their date of birth by submitting fake/tampered documents in the past will not be suspended and allowed to participate in the appropriate age group level if they disclose their actual date of birth (DOB) Players have to submit a signed letter/email along with supporting documents to BCCI Age Verification Dept. (age [email protected]) revealing their actual DOB before 15th September 2020.
However, if registered players do not disclose the facts and are found to have submitted fake/tampered DOB proof documents by BCCI, then they will be banned for 2 years and after completion of 2-year suspension, they will not be allowed to participate in age group tournaments of BCCI, as well as, age group tournaments organized by the respective State Units.
2. Season 2020-21 onwards, any player submitting fake/tampered birth certificate will be banned for 2 years from all Cricket matches under the aegis of BCCI & State Units. After completion of 2 years suspension, such players will not be allowed to participate in age group tournaments of BCCI, as well as, age group tournaments organized by State Units.
3. All Cricketers committing Domicile fraud, including Senior Men & Women, will be banned for 2 years. Voluntary Disclosure Scheme does not apply for cricketers who have committed domicile fraud."
10.As the heading of the aforesaid Clause would itself suggest it has been formulated for the purpose of eradicating age fraud in cricket. The object is to ensure level playing field for competitive participation of players in age group tournaments meaning thereby 9 that a player of a particular age should not be able to participate in any lower age group tournament. For countering the menace of age fraud measures as detailed therein have been taken. In that process, birth certificates of players are being verified. The primary aim and objective is hence ensuring disclosure of correct date of birth and verifying the documents as regards the date of birth produced by a player is a mode for ensuring that the correct date of birth is disclosed by such player. In Sub-Clause 1 of this Clause the Voluntarily Disclosure Scheme for players who are already registered permitted disclosure by them voluntarily that they have manipulated their date of birth by submitting fake / tampered documents. The emphasis here is also upon manipulation of the date of birth and the manner of such manipulation has been contemplated to be submission of a fake / tampered document as regards such date. Under Sub-Clause 2 season 2020-2021 onwards any player submitting fake / tampered birth certificate is liable to be banned for a period of two years. However in the present case, the forged / fabricated birth certificate submitted by the petitioner was prior to the Season 10 2020-21 and was for the Season 2017-18. It would hence be Sub Clause 1 and not Sub Clause 2 which would be applicable.
11.The petitioner had for the purpose of participating in the tournament for the Cricket Season 2017-18 submitted a date of birth certificate issued by Municipal Corporation, Bhopal which has eventually been found not to have been issued by the Corporation. The date of birth certificate submitted by the petitioner for his registration for 2021-22 Season has not been found to be forged / fabricated and has instead been found to be genuine by respondent No.1 itself. As per Clause 2 of Clause 18 as above, Season 2020-21 onwards any player submitting fake / tampered birth certificate will be banned for a period of two years. However, the petitioner has not submitted any fake / tampered birth certificate at the time of seeking his registration for the season 2020-21 but that was so for registration for the Season 2017-18. Thus he could not have been banned for playing for Season 2020- 21 onwards on the ground that the birth certificate furnished by him for the Season 2017-18 is a forged / fabricated certificate.
12.The question as to whether the explanation offered by the petitioner for furnishing a forged / fabricated certificate for registration for 11 the Season 2017-18 is acceptable or not is not required to be answered in view of provisions in Clause 18 as above. Since it is undisputed that there has not been any manipulation in his actual date of birth by the petitioner by furnishing forged / fabricated certificate, the penal consequences as provided for in Clause 18 do not get attracted to him even if he had not availed of the Voluntary Disclosure Scheme of respondent No.1 and had not declared that the date of birth certificate submitted by him for the earlier season is forged / fabricated. Had it been a case that on the basis of the forged / fabricated birth certificate the petitioner had disclosed an incorrect date of birth and by taking advantage of the same had played in an age group in which he was not entitled to play, the matter would have been entirely different. However that is not the case in view of which the petitioner cannot be charged with of having obtained any undue or illegal advantage and playing in an age group in which he was not entitled to play.
13. Thus, in view of the aforesaid discussion, the action of respondent No.1 in banning the petitioner for a period of two Cricket Seasons cannot be sustained. Consequently, the impugned orders passed by 12 respondent No.1 are hereby quashed. The petitions are accordingly allowed and disposed off.
14. Let a signed copy of this order be kept in the record of all connected petitions.
(PRANAY VERMA) JUDGE Digitally signed by SHAILESH MAHADEV SUKHDEVE Date: 2024.08.13 14:12:09 +05'30' SS/-