With hours remaining for its emergent Special General Meeting (SGM) – called “to consider directions of Justice (Retd) Lodha Committee in connection with the formal adoption of the new Memorandum of Association and Rules for the BCCI’’ – the BCCI members are in a state of fix over the eventual outcome of the meeting.
The BCCI conventionally briefs all the members informally about the proceedings of a crucial meeting on its eve. However, on Thursday, most members were "in the dark and confused”, as stated by a seasoned state association official, in the wake of the ultimatum issued by the Chief Justice of India to the BCCI.
A day before the SGM, scheduled to be held at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai, most BCCI members were unable to establish a contact with the hierarchy. While President Anurag Thakur is still overseas – he is supposed to arrive in Mumbai on Friday morning – secretary Ajay Shirke is understood to have spent the day in New Delhi, discussing the possible options for Friday’s meeting with legal luminaries.
A state association representative revealed that before the BCCI revealed yet another rap on the face by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, the BCCI corridors were abuzz with the whispers of the members being asked to vote against accepting the new constitution directed by the apex court. That could have created another legal conundrum since multiple Supreme Court judgments specify members cannot be asked to vote in a particular manner.
However, after Wednesday’s development, many state association officials have become wary of not passing the resolution in favour of amending the rules. A BCCI member who is involved in discussions revealed that a resolution “with a few reservations” may be passed on Friday.
On the other hand, speculations are rife that Thakur and Shirke may resign at the start of Friday’s SGM. If that actually happens, the meeting will find it difficult to pass any resolution and the BCCI’s reins will automatically be passed on to the Supreme Court-appointed Justice R. M. Lodha Committee.
If the SGM accepts the new constitution in totality, all the BCCI office-bearers will have to forego their posts immediately and the chief executive officer in consultation with the Lodha Committee will have to initiate the election procedure as per the new rules.
Reacting to the Lodha Committee’s status report, CJI T.S Thakur on Wednesday had asked BCCI to “ >fall in line ” by October 6. If the BCCI still remains defiant, then not only the hierarchy but more importantly the institution may dig a deeper hole for itself.
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