JKCA joust: anti-Abdullah faction claims BCCI recognition

In the continuing tug of war in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association, anti-Farooq Abdullah faction today claimed to have secured BCCI approval to go ahead with the Ranji Trophy trials after the group led by the former chief minister was "temporarily restrained" by a court from interfering in the affairs of JKCA.
"Yes our faction, which is called JKCA(A) has been recognized by the BCCI and the trial teams that our faction has sent have been recognized and selected," JKCA(A) president and state Sports Minister Imran Reza Ansari told PTI.
Ansari claimed the BCCI direction followed the ruling by a court in Baramulla district of north Kashmir restraining the Abdullah-led faction from interfering in the affairs of the state association.

"The court gave a restraint order against the other faction and, based on that, the BCCI recognized our faction and asked us to conduct trials," Ansari claimed.
He said the directions from the BCCI were issued by its Secretary Anurag Thakur.
The court of sub-judge Judicial Magistrate First Class Baramulla in an order temporarily restrained Abdullah faction from interfering in the affairs of the JKCA.

"Contesting non-applicants (Abdullah faction) are temporarily restrained from causing any sort of interference with the smooth affairs of the JKCA till next date of hearing," the order passed by Sub-Judge, Baramulla, read. The court fixed the next hearing for the first of the next month.

On July 20 this year, high drama was witnessed in the JKCA when a rebel group elected Ansari as its president in an attempt to end Abdullah's 35-year stint at the helm of the cricket body, but the move was stayed by a Jammu court.
Ansari was claimed to have been elected unopposed by members during a working committee meeting of the JKCA which met at the Association headquarters here.
Shortly after 42 of the 64-member JKCA declared Ansari as the new president unopposed, claiming that Abdullah did not contest, a petition was moved by the former Chief Minister's faction in the court of sub-judge, Jammu, Amarjeet Singh Langey, who stayed the election result.

The court, in its order, said that there was a "prima facie case requiring indulgence of this court in so far as staying the operation of notice for convening the meeting". Abdullah, who was re-elected as JKCA president for a three-year term in May 2014, extending his tenure which began in 1980, dubbed Ansari's election as "illegal and unconstitutional", saying he still had nearly two years to go. However, the Ansari faction got a relief from the Baramulla court, which became the basis for today's BCCI order.