The High Court has dismissed a writ petition challenging the dissolution of the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s elected committee and the subsequent formation of an 11-member ad hoc committee, rejecting the challenge on 11 May in a ruling delivered by a bench comprising Justice Razik-Al-Jalil and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury.
The petition, filed at the Supreme Court registry on 30 April, had sought a rule asking why the decision to dissolve the elected BCB committee and replace it with an ad hoc body should not be declared unlawful. Had the rule been issued, the petitioner had also sought a stay on the 7 April decision pending the hearing. BCB was represented in court by lawyer Mahin M Rahman.
The petitioner argued that under Section 21 of the National Sports Council Act, an ad hoc committee can only be formed in special circumstances, such as when an existing committee is unable to fulfil its responsibilities or is engaged in activities contrary to its mandate. No such charges, the petitioner contended, had been proven against the BCB’s elected committee. The writ argued that the elected body was dissolved and replaced without properly following the legal provisions that govern such a decision, rendering the process unlawful.
The respondents named in the petition were the Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Chairman of the National Sports Council, the Director of Planning and Development, and the president of the BCB ad hoc committee.
The National Sports Council dissolved the BCB board led by Aminul Islam on 7 April and formed the 11-member ad hoc committee in its place. The committee is headed by former Bangladesh cricket captain Tamim Iqbal Khan. Two other former cricketers, Minhajul Abedin and Athar Ali Khan, are also members.
Several other members have notable political connections. Rashna Imam is the wife of BNP Member of Parliament Bobby Hajjaj. Mirza Yasir Abbas, Saeed Ibrahim Ahmed and Israfel Khosru are the sons of Prime Minister’s political adviser Mirza Abbas, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed and Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury respectively. The remaining members are Tanzil Chowdhury, Mirza Salman Ispahani, Rafiqul Islam and Fahim Sinha.
With the High Court’s dismissal of the writ, the ad hoc committee’s authority to continue its work remains intact, at least for now.
