Disputants reach consensus on Indian board elections

The decks have been cleared for holding the adjourned Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India at Kolkata before November 30. The disputants arrived at a consensus on a six-point terms of reference for TS Krishnamurthy, former chief election commissioner, who will be the observer for the elections.

A Supreme Court Bench, comprising Justice BP Singh, Justice SB Sinha and Justice PK Balasubramanyan, has recorded the draft notes of the discussion that led to the consensus between the disputing parties. Within a week after the elections the observer would send his report to the Supreme Court with brief reasons for his ruling on voting rights and on the thorny issue of eligibility / disqualification. The Bench has posted the matter for further orders on December 12.

The dispute on the BCCI elections came up before the Supreme Court after the Netaji Cricket Club (NCC), Chennai, and the cricket associations of Rajasthan and Bihar had challenged the Calcutta High Court's verdict removing two former chief justices of India as observers to the elections that were deferred in late September. The incumbents, including Ranbir Singh Mahendra, president of the BCCI, have Jagmohan Dalmiya as their patron, while the opposing faction that includes the likes of IS Bindra and Raj Singh Dungarpur, both former presidents, are rooting for Sharad Pawar, central government minister and political heavyweight.

Senior advocates KK Venugopal and Soli Sorabjee, appearing for the BCCI, and senior advocate Harish Salve on behalf of NCC and the associations of Rajasthan and Bihar, appraised the Bench on the details of the consensus.

While there was agreement on who the neutral observer should be, the parties could not intially agree on continuing with the adjourned AGM at Kolkata. The Bench had to intervene and rule in favour of Kolkata as the venue. As of now, the disputants have evaded the contentious issue as to which board - Bihar or Jharkhand - had the right to vote.

An important aspect of the consensus was that in case of a dispute in the AGM, no court other than the Supreme Court will entertain any lawsuit or legal proceedings. The parties also agreed that the AGM would not be adjourned without the consent of the observer and his function will be confined to the election alone, and that the rest of the agenda items will be taken up after the conclusion of the elections and declaration of the result.

The proceedings at the AGM will be recorded, both in the form of video and audio under the supervision of the observer, and he would make a copy available to the Supreme Court, the draft note submitted to the court said. It said that all questions arising as to the validity of votes or the disqualification or the eligibility of any candidate to any post would be decided by the observer in accordance with the BCCI's Rules and Regulations.

"Not only the documents relating to disqualification of candidates or nominees but also any votes held to be invalid would be placed in a separate envelope," the draft agreement said.