Retired justices appointed as administrators for Mumbai Cricket Association

The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) yesterday became the fourth state cricket body of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after Hyderabad, Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir where the court appointed administrators to implement the Justice Lodha Committee report as per the Supreme Court order.

On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court decided to follow Delhi, Hyderabad and J&K High Courts by appointing administrators for the MCA while hearing the writ petition of Nadim Memon, representative of Muslim Sports Club.

Yesterday, the bench of Justices S Kemkar and M Karnik decided to appoint retired Supreme Court Justice Hemant Gokhale and retired Bombay HC Justice VM Kanade as administrators for the MCA.

The court also decided to allow the six eligible elected members of the MCA - Ashish Shelar (president), Dr Unmesh Khanvilkar (Joint Secretary), Navin Shetty, Armaan Mallick, Ganesh Iyer and Shah Alam Shaikh (all managing committee members) - to assist the appointed administrators till the Indian Premier League (IPL) is completed.

Till the administrators take charge, the court has permitted the current eligible members to sign contracts and agreements with IPL franchise Mumbai Indians as the T20 league will commence from April 7 at the Wankhede Stadium. The MCA's counsel suggested senior administrators like former president Ravi Savant and former joint secretary Prof Ratnakar Shetty to assist the administrators, but the court did not wish to make it binding on the Committee of Administrators (CoA).

The BCCI's counsel Virag Tulzapur, however, pointed out that Savant and Shetty are ineligible as per the Lodha Committee regulations. He also appealed to the bench to ensure that the court-appointed administrators take full charge of the IPL tickets.

Regarding the proposed April 16 Special General Meeting of the MCA, the bench felt it is upon the CoA to take that call now after reviewing the paperwork and procedures. The MCA, though, appealed that there shouldn't be any further delay in calling for the SGM.

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