Aditya Verma, the secretary of Bihar cricket association, stood up against a battery of top lawyers, argued his own fact in front of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra.
Since then Verma's phone has been ringing when the supreme court has admitted Bihar team to take part in Ranji Trophy 2018. After 12 years of argument, Verma has finally made it possible for Bihar team to play all first-class tournaments.
For Bihar's future in Ranji Trophy, till now there have been 16 hearings in the Supreme Court of Bihar. This time the judges were impressed by the Verma's enough evidence to flag the way for Bihar's return.
“The court finally saw the unfair game BCCI was playing,” said Verma, a political science graduate from Bihar University.
“There had been enough legal exchanges. Nothing was coming out from the hearings. It was becoming expensive too. Who can fight the richest sports association in the world?” Verma told the Hindustan Times.
At least Rs 50 lakh were spent on hearings. “Almost all the fees were being paid by Congress MP Subodh Kant Sahay, but there is a limit to how much one can pay,” said Verma, whose petition against corruption in the 2013 IPL went against the favor of former presidents N. Srinivasan and Anurag Thakur from the BCCI.
“The BCCI was clearly trying to wear me down – both mentally and financially. I thought it was better to fight my case alone. It was better than selling off my wife’s jewelry. I changed track – from legal to emotional,” said Verma.
Verma the lone warrior for Bihar had to sell off his wife's jewelry to fight against BCCI for all the hearings in the court.
Bihar's re-entrance process started in 2005 when Sharad Pawar was the head of the BCCI. These setbacks were not new for Verma. The first Supreme Court meeting had taken place in 2006, after dismissing his PIL by the high court a special leave petition signed by the latter in 2010.
“The BCCI was unfairly punishing Bihar. Yes, there were factions but the Board took advantage of this to give Jharkhand all the goodies. MS Dhoni’s emergence as skipper only left Bihar floundering,” said Verma.
