New Delhi, Aug 26 The Supreme Court has appointed former chief justice of the Orissa High Court Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh to act as an administrator of the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA).
A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan took note of a report filed by former apex court judge Justice L Nageswara Rao, who was appointed as the ombudsman of the BCA in August last year.
The bench, which said the report was "quite exhaustive", noted the conclusion and final recommendations of the report.
It said in the recommendations, the ombudsman has suggested that an administrator be appointed and he be tasked with conducting a verification exercise across all district cricket associations (DCAs).
The bench noted the ombudsman has also made recommendations concerning fresh elections.
In its recommendations, the ombudsman has said, "Several discrepancies pertaining to the electoral college have been enumerated above. In light thereof, the elections of BCA conducted in 2025 cannot be deemed to having been conducted freely and fairly".
The ombudsman has recommended that after the administrator completes the task of verification of DCA clubs, the BCA's electoral college should be recalibrated and elections to the DCAs and BCA should be conducted in accordance with the rules and regulations governing the BCA and the various DCAs.
"In view of the aforesaid, we appoint Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh, former Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court, to act as an administrator of the Bihar Cricket Association," the top court said in its August 20 order.
"The administrator shall proceed further in accordance with what has been recommended by the ombudsman as contained in paragraph 91 (about fresh elections) of the recommendations, referred to above," it said.
The bench noted there were some objections insofar as the ombudsman's report was concerned, and it would look into it at an appropriate time.
"As an interim measure, we direct that the recommendations shall come into force forthwith and be implemented," it said.
The bench, which was dealing with a matter related to the BCA, posted it for further hearing on October 8.
In August last year, it had appointed Justice Rao as the ombudsman of the BCA and requested him to have a formal meeting with the stakeholders and try to workout the modalities for smooth functioning of the association.
In its March 20 order, the top court had noted that Justice Rao had forwarded his exhaustive report along with a separate note.
It had noted that Justice Rao had made a request that he may be relieved from the assignment.
"In view of the request made by Justice L Nageswara Rao, we relieve him of the assignment," the top court had said in its March 20 order.
In April this year, the court had appointed former apex court judge Justice Deepak Gupta as the ombudsman of the BCA.
