MUMBAI: The Supreme Court Thursday named PS Narasimha, its appointed amicus curiae for BCCI-related issues, to double up as mediator between the Committee of Administrators (CoA) and all state cricket associations of the country.
The move is being seen as a huge relief by a majority of the BCCI members, who are aggrieved with the generic affidavits filed by CEO Rahul Johri which violates the newly-registered constitution of the board.
“This is a huge relief for several associations, which were shocked and disappointed at the generic affidavits being filed by the CEO in violation of the constitution finalised by the Supreme Court. These were actually bordering on contempt since as per the constitution finalised by the court, it is only the acting secretary who could have filed an affidavit on behalf of the BCCI,” a BCCI official, who did not wish to be named, was quoted as saying to IANS.
The SC bench of Justices SA Bobde and AM Sapre have also ordered Narasimha to look into the ongoing disparity in terms of release of funds by the CoA, which state associations have complained about being less in amount.
“A wave of relief has swept through the cricketing fraternity after today’s order of the SC. The members of the cricketing fraternity are grateful to the court for its observation that the game must go on.
“The restriction on the flow of associations’ own funds had all but brought the development of the game of cricket at the grassroots level to a standstill and this empathetic view will potentially bring an end to this unfortunate stalemate. The member associations have full faith in the new amicus and for us, his non-partisan approach is a breath of fresh air,” a state association official added.
The SC has also not permitted any other court in the country to hear any BCCI or state association plea.
