SHIMLA: Taking a serious note of age manipulation in Under-19 cricket tournaments, High Court of Himachal Pradesh  has directed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)  to devise a mechanism in six month time to check production of forged date of birth certificates by players.  

The Division Bench comprising the Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq and Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua, passed this order on a writ petition filed by one Suresh Kumar in the year 2019, (minor that time) through his father-Dole Ram.  He has alleged that this practice of age manipulation is rampant for quite some time. 

In a matter pertaining to Age Verification Programme for Under-19 age group, High Court directed the BCCI to put in place mechanism  by which such practice can be stopped, The Court has further directed BCCI to take such decision within six months.

The petitioner had challenged the communication dated 22.07.2015 and also the BCCI Age Verification Programme 2015-16. It is through this programme whereby eligibility for Under-19 age group for the purpose of age determination has been kept as per the Government issued birth certificates as primary evidence and ancillary evidence, such as school and hospital records.

The petitioner had prayed to direct the respondents to revert to the BCCI protocol being followed before issuance of aforesaid impugned communication. The player, who has already participated in the Under-16 tournament on the basis of TW3 bone test, his age be calculated as per the TW3 bone age test. It may be considered to be the basis for determining his age. Once the age is determined, it may be carried forward by adding one year per season for Under-19 and Under-23 age group cricket tournaments, respectively, he prayed.

Further, the petitioner had prayed that the respondents may be directed to fix the cut-off date of eligibility for playing Under-16, Under-19 and Under-23 as 1^st April instead of 1^st September of every year. The advertisement, which is issued in March/April, makes the players born from 1^st April to 31^st August ineligible for playing under the age group category tournament.

It allows only the players born from 1^st September to 31^st March, who are only eligible. This arbitrary fixation of cut-off date, according to the petitioner, has shortened his eligibility period to seven months, instead of twelve months, he pleaded.

The petitioner had made very serious allegations charging that the method adopted by the respondents for determination of age and fixation of cut-off date is breeding corruption and is giving rise to preparation/production of forged date of birth certificates in a big way. This situation has also been taken note of and acknowledged by many international players.

The Counsel appearing for respondent BCCI submitted that the petitioner should approach BCCI, as the method of determination of age as also about the cut-off date and the decision, which the BCCI would take, would have PAN India ramifications.

The Court directed the BCCI to treat the writ petition along with its enclosures as representation of the petitioner, to examine the issues, some of which are really important and pertinent.