Supreme Court directs registry to seek CJI orders to tag HCA matters with broader BCCI constitution appeal

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Satish Chandra Sharma heard special leave petitions filed by M/s The Hyderabad Cricket Association challenging the Telangana High Court's April 6, 2021 order that set aside an interim suspension and dismissed a suit which had questioned the appointment of an Ombudsman cum Ethics Officer by the Apex Council. The petitions arose out of civil proceedings in which the validity of certain appointments and subsequent committee recommendations for the Association's constitution were in dispute.

The Court declined to go into the merits and directed administrative consolidation, holding that potential conflict with a larger pending appeal required joint consideration. The Bench observed that, while it had earlier found that “fair and proper elections of the executive body of the Hyderabad Cricket Association were essential,” and described the Single Member Committee's proposals as “salutory recommendations,” concerns were raised that some recommendations “would be in conflict with the Constitution of BCCI.” The Court, in its reasoning, observed: "Having given our anxious consideration and without going into the merits of the matters, once the issue is raised that the recommendations made by the Single Member Committee which are to be approved/ disapproved in the present case, may be in conflict or not in consonance with the Constitution, Regulations and Guidelines of the BCCI, it would only be appropriate that these matters may be tagged with Civil Appeal No.4235 of 2014 and heard by the same bench." The Bench accordingly directed the Registry to place the papers before the Chief Justice of India for appropriate orders to tag the matters with Civil Appeal No. 4235 of 2014.

Background The dispute began when M/s Budding Star Cricket Club (Respondent No.2) filed PSROP No.17 of 2020 seeking a declaration that the Apex Council's appointment of an Ombudsman cum Ethics Officer was not in accordance with the Hyderabad Cricket Association's constitution. The Civil Court allowed I.A. No. 674 of 2020 and suspended the appointment during the suit's pendency. The High Court, by its impugned order dated April 6, 2021, allowed a revision, set aside the suspension order, dismissed I.A. No. 674 of 2020 with costs and dismissed the suit. Special Leave Petitions were filed against that judgment.

During the SLP proceedings, this Court appointed a Supervisory Committee and later a Single Member Committee to oversee elections and propose constitutional amendments for the Association. The Single Member Committee conducted supervised elections and submitted recommendations which this Court described as salutary but which attracted numerous objections from parties, some supporting and others opposing the changes. On December 5, 2023 the Court directed that the Committee's recommendations would, as an interim measure, "come into force and be implemented" while parties were allowed to be heard. Counsel appearing for elected office bearers drew the Court's attention to Civil Appeal No. 4235 of 2014, which addressed the BCCI constitution and directed State Associations to align their constitutions with BCCI norms. Given the risk of conflicting rulings, the Court refrained from adjudicating merits and ordered the registry to seek orders from the Chief Justice to tag the present matters with the broader appeal so they could be heard together. No final adjudication on substantive validity of the appointments or constitutional changes was made; the matter was administratively relisted for consolidation.

Case Details: Case No.: 2025 INSC 23 (SLP (C) No. 6779 of 2021 and connected SLPs) Case Title: M/s The Hyderabad Cricket Association v. M/s Charminar Cricket Club & Anr. Appearances: For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Avishkar Singhvi, Advocate (appearing for elected office bearers) [other counsel names not specified in the order] For the Respondent(s): Names not specified in the order