Delhi HC dismisses PIL challenging BCCI's move to restrain from playing for railways

The Delhi High Court Thursday dismissed a plea by several wards of railway employees challenging the BCCI's decision restraining them from playing for the railways in the 'under-19' and 'under-23' categories. The petition said that Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had decided that only the permanent employees of the railways would be allowed to play for the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) teams.

Justice Vibhu Bakhru said no interference with the decision of the BCCI and the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) was warranted. The court passed the order on a plea by 10 wards of railway employees who had said the junior teams were allowed to participate in the tournaments organised by the BCCI from 1980 and since then, the railway employees' children had been representing the department and winning accolades.

The court, while dismissing the plea, said "Undoubtedly, the petitioners (players) have presented a compelling case for being permitted to play for RSPB teams. However, ... this court cannot supplant its opinion over that of the concerned authority and a judicial review of merits is not permissible, unless the limited grounds as indicated, are established." It added the court was unable to accept that the decision of the BCCI or the CoA falls foul of any of the tests indicated.

"Thus, given the limited scope of judicial review, this court cannot grant relief as sought for by the petitioners. No interference with the decision of the BCCI and the CoA is warranted. The petition is, accordingly, dismissed," the court said. The petition, filed through advocate Aditya Kumar Choudhary, had sought a direction to quash the May 3, 2018 letter sent by the BCCI to the RSPB, informing it about the recommendation of the board's technical committee at its April 16, 2018 meeting, which was ratified by the CoA.

It had said that the BCCI technical committee had recommended that the RSPB team should only consist of players who were on permanent employment with the railways. The plea had sought a direction to the board to let the RSPB Under-19, Under-23 and senior teams include the wards of railway employees and conduct an immediate trial for all the categories.

The petition has made the BCCI, the RSPB and the Ministry of Railway's parties to it. "The railway teams have been playing in different BCCI tournaments for more than 30 years and have consistently played well and contributed not only to Indian cricket but to world cricket as well by producing excellent players in the likes of Sanjay Bangar, Murali Kartik, Karn Sharma, JP Yadav and Harvinder Singh," the petition had said.

(With inputs from agencies.)