The Supreme Court on Friday barred the Board of Control for Cricket in India from releasing funds to state associations until it passes a resolution to implement the recommendations of the Justice Lodha Committee. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for October 17.
Chief Justice of India TS Thakur had earlier criticised the cricketing body for transferring Rs 400 crore to its state associations, saying it should have exercised transparency in disbursing the funds. On October 3, the Lodha Committee had asked banks to stop disbursing funds for financial decisions made by the board. The panel had said that as per its directives, the board was not supposed to make any decision on issues apart from "routine matters".
The court was hearing the Justice RM Lodha Committee's plea to supersede the top functionaries of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and replace them with a panel of administrators. This came a day after it directed the BCCI to either elect new administrators or seek time from the Lodha panel "to fall in line".On September 28, the Lodha panel had filed a status report with the Supreme Court, asking it to sack the board's top functionaries, including President Anurag Thakur and Secretary Ajay Shirke, for non-compliance with its orders. The committee had also noted that several emails from them went unacknowledged by the BCCI. The board, however, had filed a response with the top court, refuting allegations of non-compliance with the committee's recommendations and arguing that it had responded to all the emails.
The Lodha committee was formed after the spot-fixing and betting scandal emerged during the Indian Premier League in 2013.
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