In an attempt to guard against any possible attempts on the part of the stakeholders to push back the BCCI elections, the Committee of Administrators (CoA) has put out a firm statement saying that the poll date - October 22 - will remain unaltered even though the deadline for the state elections has been extended. As per the latest CoA directive issued on Friday, the state associations had been granted a further two weeks till September 28 to complete the elections.
The original timeline, issued by the CoA on May 21, said that the states would have to conduct their elections by September 14 and submit the names of the representatives who would take part in the BCCI elections for the positions of the various office bearers. But, despite the alert, several state associations have failed to fulfil the necessary criteria to conduct elections.
The basic eligibility for the members - the state associations - to conduct elections is to amend their constitution in line with the one registered by the BCCI in August 2018. However, the CoA update on August 13 this year confirmed that only 14 out of the 38 BCCI members had submitted the amended and registered constitutions.
"No further extensions will be feasible beyond 28th September since the notice of AGM for BCCI elections has to be issued 21 days prior to 22nd October - which is 30th September"
Three members - Association of Indian Universities, Services and Railways - are not required to meet the condition, as they are funded by the Indian government. Of the rest, ten members had submitted the amended constitution but had yet to register the same. The remaining 11 are yet to amend their constitution.
Today, the CoA said that it had received a request from some of the state associations to be given an extension for their elections. It has been approved, but the three-member CoA - Vinod Rai, Diana Edulji and Ravindra Thodge - did it while calling it a "final opportunity" for the state associations. In a stern message, the CoA told the states that it would not be flexible going forward because, as per the board's constitution, the notice for the board's annual general meeting, which takes place on election day - October 22 - has to go out to the members 21 days prior.
"The deadline for completion of elections of state associations is extended from 14th September 2019 to 28th September 2019. No further extensions will be feasible beyond 28th September, 2019 since the notice of AGM for BCCI elections has to be issued 21 days prior to 22nd October which is 30th September 2019," the CoA said in a statement. "The State Associations are required to send the names of their representatives to the BCCI for the BCCI election on 28th September, 2019."
The rules say that if a state association fails to amend its constitution and get it registered, it would not be eligible to participate in the BCCI elections. Also, it would not be able to receive the funds disbursed by the board.
The CoA said the states and their respective electoral officers would need to finish the formalities for the state elections by September 12.
"All state associations who have not already (a) submitted their amended constitutions for approval to the Committee of Administrators; and/or (b) appointed electoral officer for conducting the elections; and/or (c) issued the notice for conduct of elections, are required to complete all of the aforesaid on or before 12th September 2019," the statement said.
"The Committee of Administrators will neither take cognizance of any request for extension of time from state associations or their electoral officers who do not complete all of (a), (b) and (c), as provided above before the deadline of 12th September 2019 nor entertain any request to vet the constitution or amended version thereof submitted beyond the said deadline."