The Bombay High Court today rejected a PIL challenging election
of Lalitkumar Modi as Vice President of BCCI.
The PIL was filed by Chandrawardhan Parekh, a Mumbai-based 'cricket lover', taking
exception to Modi's election on the grounds that he had been convicted by a US
court in 1985 for possession of cocaine and for a second-degree kidnapping.
Parekh's contention was that BCCI rules say that any 'administrator'
found guilty of possessing or distributing drugs would be disqualified.
However, the division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar
and Justice S C Dharmadhikari held that the case against Modi was "old
and stale", and "at this late stage", nearly two decades later,
the regulation should not be applied.
Court also observed that after the 1985 case, Modi has not
been found committing similar offence ever again, and he has completed substantial
part of his term as Vice President.
Modi came to be prosecuted on the count of 'conspiracy to distribute' cocaine
and a illegal confinement in 1985 when he was a student in North Carolina, United
States.
Modi's defence was that no conviction judgement had been passed
against him as he had been released on probation.
He also contended that the petition was at the behest of Kishor Rungta,
Kamla Morarka, and Jagmohan Dalmiya, the group that
held sway in BCCI earlier, and it could not be treated as PIL as no public interest
was involved in the case.
The court, though dismissing the petition, negated this arguement,
saying that considering the status of BCCI and nature of public interest in
the sport of cricket, it could be treated as PIL.
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