SC verdict to help Bihar, UTs, NE states to find place in BCCI

Bihar, which lost its place in the BCCI set up after Jharkhand was carved out of it, will have a representation in the Board with the Supreme Court today accepting the recommendations of Justice R M Lodha panel of having one state one association.
However, before getting a permanent membership, three cricket bodies -- Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB), Bihar Cricket Association and Association of Bihar Cricket (ABC) -- have to sort out their differences and disputes.
The verdict by a bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice F M I Kalifulla assumes importance as CAB through its secretary Aditya Kumar Verma had supported the recommendations of the Lodha panel and was also instrumental in bringing to the court the issues pertaining to the IPL spot fixing which led to the scrapping of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals out of IPL and ousting of the then BCCI President N Srinivasan.

When BCCI opposed the recommendations of the Lodha panel, CAB was first to approach the apex court for implementation of the measures suggested by the committee.
Later, former cricketers Bishan Singh Bedi and Kirti Azad joined in his support along with Union territory association of Chandigarh for the implementation of the Lodha panel's recommendations which also stated that Bihar and two new states, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand, and six north-eastern states -- Sikkim, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, were unrepresented on the Board.
"Of course, the most significant omission was Bihar, which, being the third most populous State in the nation required the cricket representatives of its 100 million populace to migrate to other States to ply their trade. Apart from Tripura, the other six sister-States of the north-east had been relegated to various categories of membership (Associate, Affiliate and Future) which really have no voice on the Board," the panel had said.