Point of Law: Games/Entertainment - Game of cricket - Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association - Challenging mandate of CAA in framing Memorandum of Association and Rules and Regulations - BCCI, which is tasked with overall governing/controlling of activities of game of cricket in India and of which JKCA is an affiliate member, is in position with its newly approved Constitution, it is the said body which shall be appropriate authority to answer the above-formulated question in the light of its newly approved Constitution. BCCI is expected to have all expertise required for answering this question, being apex body for managing and controlling the activities of the game of cricket in India, including the Jammu and Kashmir. Besides, BCCI has also filed an application for handing over affairs of JKCA to it till such time elections of office bearers of JKCA are conducted under its supervision.

JUDGMENT :

ALI MOHAMMAD MAGREY, J.

(I) Subject matter of the present litigation:

1. The subject matter of challenge in the Letters Patent Appeal before us, being LPAOW No. 14/2019, is the judgment dated 31st of December, 2018 passed by the learned Single Judge in two Writ petitions bearing OWP Nos. 1954/2018 and 1685/2018, whereby the said Writ petitions stand dismissed. In the aforesaid Writ petitions, the petitioners/ appellants herein had sought declaration from the learned Single Judge declaring the Memorandum of Association and the Rules and Regulations framed by the Court Appointed Administrators (hereinafter referred to as “the CAA”) on 3rd of October, 2018 as null and void, with a further direction to the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (for short “the JKCA”) to convene the extraordinary General Council Meeting in compliance with the mandate of Rule 20 of the Rules of the JKCA and amend the Rules of the JKCA in conformity with the recommendations made by the Lodha Committee which have been accepted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court with certain modifications.

2. Thereafter, several Writ petitions came to be filed in both wings of this High Court, some challenging the mandate of the CAA in framing the Memorandum of Association and Rules and Regulations so presented, viz. (i) OWP No. 2284/2018 titled Youth Cricket Club vs. BCCI and Others (filed in Jammu wing); (ii) OWP No. 2299/2018 titled United Cricket Club vs. BCCI and Others (filed in Jammu wing); (iii) WP (C) No. 4524/2019 titled Desh Ratan Dubey vs. BCCI and Others (filed in Jammu wing); (iv) WP (C) No. 1404/2020 titled Desh Ratan Dubey vs. BCCI and Others (filed in Jammu wing) and (v) WP (C) No. 1998/2020 titled Desh Rattan Dubey vs. BCCI and Others (filed in Jammu wing) and some in support of the Constitution/Memorandum of Association framed by the CAA, being (i) WP (C) No. 1860/2020 titled District Kathua vs. BCCI and Others (filed in Jammu wing); (ii) WP (C) No. 1815/2020 titled Nisar Khan and Others vs. BCCI and Others (filed in Srinagar wing) and (iii) WP (C) No. 2070/2020 titled Ahmad Ali vs. BCCI and Others (filed in Srinagar wing). Besides, a review petition, MCC No. 12/2018, has also been filed seeking review of judgment dated 6th of December, 2017 passed by the Division Bench of this Court. Since, the issues raised in the aforesaid petitions are akin to the ones involved in the Letters Patent appeal, as such, all these petitions stand clubbed herewith this appeal for their decision together. In this backdrop, we propose to decide the appeal as well as the aforesaid connected petitions by virtue of this common judgment.

(II) Genesis of the present litigation:

3. Before coming to the arguments of the learned appearing counsel for the parties, we deem it appropriate to have a glance at the precise background facts wherein the genesis of the present litigation lies, as is brought to limelight from the perusal of the pleadings on record. It was way back in the year 1957 that on the initiative of the Kashmir Cricket Club, a process for formation of the JKCA was set in motion, resulting in constitution of a Sub-Committee consisting of six members, headed by one Qazi Ghulam Rasul. This Committee was tasked to prepare the modalities for formation of the JKCA of all the Clubs and Colleges in Jammu and Kashmir. On the basis of the report so prepared by the aforesaid Sub-Committee, the Rules of the JKCA were framed and the JKCA was registered as a Society under the Jammu and Kashmir Societies Registration Act, vide Registration No. S-41 dated 29th of August, 1957. Thereafter, since then, it is the JKCA that has been running the affairs of the administration of the game of cricket in Jammu and Kashmir. Subsequently, with the passage of time, the game of cricket attained huge popularity which resulted in association of the things like money, power, glamour and fame with it. This not only affected the functioning of the Cricket Associations of other States of the country,