The legal battle over the constitution of the Bangladesh Cricket Board could resurface after Eid-ul-Fitr as a fresh move is being considered by the organisers involved. A five-member bench of the Supreme Court Appellate Division on July 25, 2013, had ruled in favour of holding the BCB election on the basis of its amended constitution after a petition was filed by the BCB and the National Sports Council against High Court verdict that declared the amended BCB constitution illegal on January 27.
However, Appellate Division bench said the legality of the subsequent elected BCB committee will depend on its final judgment in this case.
High Court had earlier said that the NSC had no authority to amend the constitution of the BCB, following a writ petition filed by Yousuf Jamil Babu, president of Bangladesh District and Divisional Sports Organisers’ Forum, and Mubasshar Hussain, a former BCB director.
The BCB and NSC lawyers had argued in Appellate Division that if the election could not be held because of the constitutional crisis, it will jeopardise Bangladesh’s chance of hosting the ICC World Twenty20.
The Appellate Division accepted the argument and allowed the BCB to hold its planned election on October 10, 2013, facilitating the body to successfully host the ICC World Twenty20.
With the tournament is now well over, one of the original petitioners Mubasshar said they are considering a fresh move after Eid to have the constitutional crisis resolved.
‘The BCB is currently running through vested group whose legality is questionable,’ said Mubasshar. ‘At that point we remained quiet because Appellate Division gave the verdict to create the pathway for running the BCB activities ahead of the ICC World Twenty20,’
‘Allowing an atmosphere to host the event without any trouble was also our priority as the reputation of the country was related with it,’ he said.
‘However, the tournament is now over so we have no more obligations left. We will take a fresh move to resolve the crisis,’ he said.
The BCB constitution was challenged in court after the NSC arbitrarily brought some changes, a right which was only given to the BCB councillors.
The changes included that the BCB president will be chosen by the board of directors instead of being elected directly by the councillors.
It also abolished the senior vice-president post and incorporated two councillors from each Super League club of the Dhaka Premier League.
‘We always want that there should be a system in place regarding the BCB issue,’ said another petitioner Yousuf Jamil Babu.
‘But unfortunately there is none at the moment as the basis of the current BCB body’s coming to power is flawed,’ said Babu.
When contacted, BCB director Lokman Hossain Bhuyian, who was elected unopposed in 2013 elections, said that they have not yet given any thought in this regard.
‘We will appear when we will be called by the court,’ said Lokman.
-With New Age input
