HC asks DDCA, Centre to respond to Kirti Azad's plea alleging irregularities

Justice Rekha Palli of the Delhi High Court issued notices to the Centre, Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) and former acting president of BCCI C K Khanna on the petition which sought direction to implement a transparent and fair membership system including a waiting list of applicants to stop the ad-hoc system of giving membership.

New Delhi:The Delhi High Court Friday sought response of DDCA and the Centre on a plea by former cricketer Kirti Jha Azad alleging irregularities in the functioning of the cricketing body and seeking appointment of an administrator to take over its affairs.

Justice Rekha Palli issued notices to the Centre, Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) and former acting president of BCCI C K Khanna on the petition which sought direction to implement a transparent and fair membership system including a waiting list of applicants to stop the ad-hoc system of giving membership.

The court, however, orally refused to grant interim relief to the petitioner by restraining DDCA from giving new memberships of the association.

Azad, in his plea, said the primary reason for filing the present petition is due to the failure of DDCA to have a proper, transparent and fair membership system.

Presently, there are no guidelines/criteria as to how membership is given nor is there a waiting list for members to know where they stand in terms of getting membership. The membership process is plagued by ad-hocism in getting fresh membership and is subjected to the whims and caprice of DDCA officials.

"A vested interest is created by strategically giving membership to selective people and their families, thereby creating a family monopoly, said the petitioner, represented through senior advocate Vikas Singh.

The plea alleged that this is a matter of grave concern as membership is given out for the sole purpose to usurp the elections.

This iniquitous process has led to a few people dominating the election because their supporters have multiple members in their families. This heavily influences the voting pattern in the elections and comes in the way of a free and fair election, it claimed.

However, the plea was opposed by senior advocate Sandeep Sethi and lawyer T Singhdev, representing DDCA, on the grounds of maintainability and said Azad should approach the NCLT with his grievances.

Advocate Amit Mahajan, representing the Centre, said there was no relief sought against the Central government and it shall be deleted from the array of parties.

The court, which said the issue will be considered after pleadings are complete, issued notice to the Centre and listed the matter for further hearing on April 18.

The plea alleged that none of the Delhi Teams have performed well for the past many years and all the teams including U-14, U-16, U-19, U-25 and Ranji Team get eliminated in the early rounds itself and the primary reason for this is the unfair and rigged system of selection of players.

In order to counter this arbitrary membership process, a new membership system providing for a fair method of making members should be incorporated. Further, amongst the existing members, the voting should be restricted to one vote in one family. This will ensure that DDCA posts will not be treated as permanent positions of power and will also do away with the monopoly created in the hands of a few, it said.

PTI