Patna, Nov. 9: The high court today issued notices to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Bank of India on a petition challenging a single bench order, allowing the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) secretary to operate its account with the bank.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Rekha M. Doshit and Justice Birendra Prasad Verma sought replies from BCCI and Bank of India by December 21, the next date of hearing, on an appeal filed by Ram Kumar, challenging the order passed by the high court’s single bench. Ram is a member of an ad hoc committee constituted and led by RJD chief Lalu Prasad.

On September 20, the single bench had allowed BCA to operate its Bank of India account, thus rejecting the ad hoc committee’s claim to operate the account on the ground that it was not the original one. The single bench, while allowing the petition filed by BCA through its secretary Ajay Narayan Sharma, said in its judgment that there has not been any provision of constitution of ad hoc committee in the bylaws or BCA rules. Sharma had sought direction to operate its bank account.

During the hearing, BCA secretary Ajay Narayan Sharma’s counsel, Naresh Kumar Malhotra, gave an undertaking to the court that it would not operate the account with Bank of India. Appearing for the petitioner, Abhinav Srivastava submitted that how could an order be passed against the ad hoc committee when it was not made the party in the main writ petition on which the judgment was delivered.

Malhotra contended that BCA is a recognised body for which the elections were held in October last year in which Ajay Narayan Sharma and Vinod Kumar were elected as secretary and chairman respectively and hence, it is the legally elected original body which must be given powers to operate accounts in the interest of cricket which has come to a standstill in the state.

Malhotra submitted that the ad hoc committed formed by Lalu under the chairmanship of RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui automatically expired the day elections were held and hence, this committee has no meaning.

Bank of India had restrained both BCA and ad hoc committee from operating the account after Siddiqui wrote to the bank asking it not to give BCA powers to operate the account.

Case put off

The hearing on a petition seeking direction to the state government for the restoration of the Bihar State Co-operative Marketing Union Limited (Biscomaun) board, wrongly dissolved by the government, remained inconclusive in the high court today.

A bench of Justice Samarendra Pratap Singh heard the petition filed by Sunil Kumar Singh, the former Biscomaun chairman, Ramzan Ansari and others challenging the state government’s decision to dissolve the Biscomaun board instead of conducting the elections for the various co-operative bodies, including Biscomaun.