Judge who kicked IPL out of state to be at MCA helm

The judge who kicked IPL out of Maharashtra has been named one of the ‘administrators’ of MCA – the Mumbai Cricket Association. The BCCI and the MCA had been mulling over five names for the post and finally shortlisted Justice (retired) Vidyasagar Kanade and Justice Hemant Gokhale.

What has raised eyebrows is that Justice Kanade was responsible for passing an adverse order against the BCCI and the MCA and had even kicked IPL out of Maharashtra in 2016.

Justice Kanade’s orders had also inflicted on the two cricket bodies a huge financial loss as they had to make last-minute arrangements to host IPL matches out of Maharashtra.

A division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice Shantanu Kemkar and Justice Makarand Karnik accepted the names of the two judges and said they would pass an order in this regard on Thursday.

This means Justice Kanade and Justice Gokhale are slated to be appointed as administrators and they would be overseeing the business of the MCA. As administrators, it would be their brief to ensure that the recommendations of the Lodha Committee are implemented in letter and spirit.

In another development, the bench has restrained the MCA from taking any decision, especially regarding finances.

Justice Kemkar said, “The MCA cannot take any decisions, especially pertaining to finances, until the administrators take over. The reason for this is that we want the administrators to monitor the functioning of the association.”

The judges, however, allowed the MCA to sign its agreement with the Mumbai Indians team and also to complete requisite documentation for the upcoming IPL season. “We are not asking you to stop the IPL and you can go ahead with the signing of the agreement with the team,” Justice Kemkar said.

The bench also said the administrators would be at liberty, if they deem it fit, to defer the elections of the MCA.