Former BCCI chief Muthiah challenges HC order

Former BCCI president A C Muthiah on Friday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Madras High Court's order upholding the validity of the amendment by the cricketing body in its regulations to exclude IPL and T20 tournaments from its purview.

India Cements Managing Director N Srinivasan, who owns the Chennai Super Kings T20 squad, has also filed a caveat in the apex court to ensure that no order is passed without giving him an opportunity of being heard.

A division bench of the Madras High Court had on March 24 declined to interfere with the amendment saying it found "absolutely no merit to interfere" with a single judge's order turning down Muthiah's plea to set aside the amendment.

Earlier, Muthiah had approached the High Court alleging that the amendment was done to "favour" BCCI secretary Srinivasan and contended that the decision to exclude IPL and T20 tournaments from the purview of the Board's regulation was "illegal and opposed to public policy."

Muthiah had said that under the unamended clause, no administrator of BCCI could have, directly or indirectly, any commercial interest in the matches or events conducted by the Board and "the new regulation was brought in only to favour N Srinivasan".

However, the division bench turned down his plea saying, "We are of the prima facie view that suits have been filed only in the individual capacity and not in the capacity of an administrator."

Tamil Nadu Advocate General P S Raman, appearing for the Board, had contended, "Muthiah was not a member of the Board and the clause being only a code was not amenable to challenge that too by an individual."

The Bench had said a careful reading of the plaint indicated that all the averments were aimed at only Srinivasan and Muthiah had sent two complaints to BCCI President on September 5, 2008, and September 19, 2008. In the complaints, Muthiah had not mentioned that he was making the complaints in the capacity of the Board's past president.

The judges had pointed out that as the clause stood it excluded certain events wherein even the administrator could franchise a T20 team. Further there was no material placed before the high court to show whether the IPL matches were official matches conducted by ICC or purely commercial basis.

Referring to Muthiah's contention that clause 6.2.4, which was amended by the Board, should not have been made to exclude IPL and T20 tournaments, the Bench had said, "BCCI had its own set of rules and regulations in the form of memorandum and rules and regulations.