Hours before the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the matter of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Bihar Cricket Association an application has been moved to seek an adjournment. The applicant, raising the conflict of interest issue, has pleaded Mr Justice L Nageswara Rao to recuse himself from the case hearing.
Justice Rao along with Chief Justice of India, Mr Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde is a member of the two-judge Bench that will hear the BCCI matter later today.
Also read: Supreme Court to hear BCCI vs Bihar Cricket Association matter on Wednesday
The BCCI is expected to make a mention through its counsellors for an urgent hearing on the plea to waive-off the cooling off period for board president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah. There is a hope for Ganguly and Shah to get at least an interim relief as the petitioner Bihar Cricket Association would not oppose the BCCI application.
Also read: Hope for Ganguly, Shah; petitioner ‘not to oppose relief’
However, the latest development can derail the BCCI plans if the court takes the application by Jharkhand Cricket Association life member Naresh H Makani into consideration.
SportzFront is in possession of the email Makani has sent to the Supreme Court of India.
Makani has claimed the he was the first person to file a complaint against the BCCI for numerous illegalities and irregularities. He also claims to have filed appropriate application in the match fixing scandal with respect to the IPL 2012.
The applicant further points out that Mr Justice Rao was part of the Justice Mudgal Committee, appointed to look into the allegations against BCCI, former Board president and Chennai Super Kings Supremo N Srinivasan, Gurunath Meiyappan, India Cements and Rajasthan Royals.
Stating that this causes a conflict of interest, Makani has urged Mr Justice Rao to “recuse himself from the Hon’ble bench” considering the BCCI matter! He has further pleaded for constitution of an “appropriate bench” and adjourn the matter till then.
If the application is considered by the court, the BCCI may plunge into administrative crisis just before setting the ball rolling for the Indian Premier League 2020. Secretary Jay Shah’s term under the present BCCI constitution has been over last month, while Ganguly’s tenure will be over on Sunday, July 26.
The BCCI will be hoping for at least an interim relief for the board and secretary to continue in their respective positons as the court hears the plea on relief in the age, tenure and cooling off clause.