MCA election on November 10

Amidst the uncertainty over governance structure of state associations due to the ongoing court case about cricket administration in India, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) sprang a surprise on Friday by deciding to conduct its biennial election on November 10.

It is intriguing to see the MCA, headed by Ashish Shelar, himself a lawyer, deciding to start the election procedure as per the old rulebook.

Amidst the uncertainty over governance structure of state associations due to the ongoing court case about cricket administration in India, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) sprang a surprise on Friday by deciding to conduct its biennial election on November 10.

“The managing committee today decided to initiate the election process for MCA. It was decided that the election will be conducted as per the existing constitution on November 10, subject to Supreme Court order,” Prof. Dr. Unmesh Khanvilkar, the MCA joint secretary, told Sportstar after the managing committee meeting.

It would mean that the MCA will call the election for all its 17 posts in the managing committee, including the president, two vice-presidents, two joint secretaries, treasurer and 11 managing committee members. Whereas, the proposed rulebook clearly states that there can only be one post of office-bearers. Besides, the number of managing committee posts has also been a contentions issue.

The MCA’s SGM for discussing the proposed reforms was adjourned last year, so the association has neither accepted nor rejected the Lodha Committee reforms.

It is intriguing to see the MCA, headed by Ashish Shelar, himself a lawyer, deciding to start the election procedure as per the old rulebook. After all, ever since the Supreme Court adopted the Lodha Committee reforms in July 2016, the apex court has appointed a Committee of Administrators (CoA) for the BCCI, MCA's parent body, for adopting the new reforms.

In fact, the CoA is in the process of submitting the reworked BCCI constitution to the Supreme Court, as per the directions of the latter. The next court hearing is on September 19.

While a BCCI official on condition of anonymity admitted he was “not sure” whether the MCA can actually conduct the election, an MCA managing committee member cited that owing to the existing regulations, the election “had to be called” as per the existing rulebook.