The Association of Indian Universities (AIU) was given the voting rights by the Supreme Court on Thursday, but the government agency would find it difficult to name a representative who can attend the BCCI meetings.
The apex court has said that only former players chosen by the associations of Railways, Services and AIU can attend the BCCI AGM and also vote. This has been done to avoid government interference in the functioning of the BCCI.
While Railways and Services which have been taking part in the Ranji Trophy have many cricketers who can be chosen for player-representative, AIU would not be in a position to do so as it does not have the players to form an association.
AIU conducts the inter-university tournament for the Rohinton Baria Trophy. The amicus had suggested that full membership should not be given to Services and AIU. However, the Supreme Court said: “The Universities are a nucleus for encouraging the game of cricket among the players of the college-going generation in the country.”
The court also said that Nana Joshi, Pankaj Roy, Polly Umrigar, G. Ramchand, Deepak Shodhan, Subhash Gupte, Ashok Gandotra, Mohinder Amarnath, Budhi Kunderan, Sunil Gavaskar, Kenia Jayantilal, Surinder Amarnath and Dilip Doshi represented Indian Universities before playing Test cricket for India.
The Supreme Court order also said that a government/sports control board nominee cannot attend BCCI meetings.
