JUDGMENT :

Whether elections to the District Cricket Associations are to be conducted following the direction given by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the judgment in Board of Control for Cricket in India and others v. Cricket Association of Bihar and others [(2018) 9 SCC 624] and the report submitted by Mr. Justice R.M. Lodha Committee, is the issue arising for consideration in this writ petition.

2. The petitioners are office bearers of Cricket Clubs functioning in Kannur District. The 1st respondent is the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the 2nd respondent is the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA). The 3rd respondent-Cannanore District Association (CDA) is a District Cricket Association (DCA) affiliated to the 2nd respondent-KCA which in turn is affiliated to the 1st respondent-BCCI.

3. The petitioners submit that the Hon'ble Apex Court has issued various orders from time to time in tune with the recommendations made by Justice R.M. Lodha Committee appointed by it, suggesting drastic changes in the administration, finance, qualification of the office bearers, their tenure, etc. The Apex Court has directed to incorporate these suggestions in the bye-laws of the BCCI as well as of the State Cricket Associations and the 2nd respondent-KCA has filed an affidavit dated 01.03.2017 in the Apex Court stating that it has adopted the recommendations of Justice R.M. Lodha Committee.

4. The petitioners state that Ext.P1 was the old Memorandum of Association of the KCA and Ext.P2 is the common bye-laws for District Cricket Associations framed by the KCA. As per Clause 31A of Ext.P2 common bye-laws, the following office bearers and Members of the Executive Committee of the Association shall be elected in the manner specified in the election procedure framed by the State Association from time to time.

1. President.

2. Four Vice Presidents.

3. Honorary Secretary.

4. Honorary Joint Secretary.

5. Honorary Treasurer.

6. Honorary Assistant Secretary.

7. Two representatives to the Kerala Cricket Association.

8. One representative to the District Sports Council.

9. Five representatives to the executive committee from among the permanent member clubs.

The quorum for General Body Meeting shall be 1/3rd of the number of Members on the rolls. An office bearer of the Association shall hold office as such for one or more terms of four years each on obtaining a simple majority of votes of the members present and voting in the election. No office bearer of the Association shall hold offices of any other State Level or District Level Sports Association simultaneously.

5. The petitioners state that after adopting the recommendations made by Justice R.M. Lodha Committee, the 2nd respondent-KCA has published Ext.P4 revised Memorandum of Association and Rules and Regulations. According to the petitioners, the DCAs being mirror images and affiliated units of the KCA, are bound to adopt Ext.P4. The DCAs need only to affiliate as full Members of the SCAs and no separate registration and bye-laws for the DCAs are provided in Ext.P4.

6. According to the petitioners, as Ext.P4 is applicable to all DCAs under the 2nd respondent, the office bearers and Executive Committee to be elected have been reduced to the President, Vice President, Secretary, Joint Secretary and Treasurer (5 Member Committee). As per Ext.P4, the term of an office bearer shall be three years and no person shall be office bearer for more than three terms. A person, who has held any post for two consecutive terms, shall not be eligible to contest any further election without completing a cooling off period of three years and the age limit for being an office bearer is 70 years.

7. The 3rd respondent-Cannanore District Association issued Ext.P7 notice dated 08.08.2022 calling for Annual General Body Meeting of the Association and election of its new office bearers on 21.08.2022. In Ext.P7, it has been stated that the Blue Book (Exts.P1 and P2), which stands revoked after Ext.P4, will be followed for the A