The Supreme Court on Monday provided some breathing space to the beleaguered Board of Control for Cricket in India reserving its orders on the Justice Lodha panel's status report for appointment of new administrators after the Indian cricket body sought more time to implement the Lodha reforms.
However, the court asked for an undertaking from the BCCI on the dates by when the Indian cricket body would adapt to the reforms suggested by the Justice Lodha Committee, reported Times of India.
For its part, the BCCI told the SC that they could not get all state associations on board to implement the proposed reforms and sought more time. It also accused the Lodha panel of going beyond the original mandate of reforming and interfering in administrative matters.
Earlier, the SC's Amicus Curiae Gopal Subramaniam asked the court to appoint an administrator or ask the Lodha panel to do so. Subramaniam also called for the initiation of civil and criminal contempt charges against BCCI's officials for disobeying the court's orders.
Subramaniam also suggested that funding to states be stopped as measure to get the state associations and the Indian cricket body to comply to the recommendations, reported ESPNCricinfo. He also called for future BCCI contracts to go through the Lodha panel to ensure their compliance with reforms.
BCCI president Anurag Thakur, in an affidavit, denied asking International Cricket Council chairman Shashank Manohar for a letter stating that implementation of the Lodha reforms would amount to governmental reforms.
Thakur clarified that he asked Manohar for a clarification regarding his view on the Lodha reforms. According to Thakur, when Manohar was BCCI president, he "had taken a view that the recommendations of Justice Lodha committee appointing the nominee of Comptroller and Auditor General on apex council would amount to governmental interference", as reported by PTI.
Hence, Thakur stated in his affidavit, that he had "requested him that he being the ICC chairman, can a letter be issued clarifying the position which he had taken as BCCI President."
The BCCI president also added, "Manohar explained to me at the meeting that when the stand was taken by him, the matter was pending before this court and had not been decided."
The Supreme Court had barred the Board of Control for Cricket in India on October 7 from releasing money to state associations unless they agreed to abide by the Justice Lodha Committee's recommendations. The judiciary made this decision while providing an interim order in the case to decide whether the Indian cricket body's top brass should be "superseded", as recommended by the Lodha panel.
BCCI president Anurag Thakur had also been asked to file a personal affidavit about whether he had asked for a letter of intervention from the chief of the International Cricket Council, David Richardson regarding the recommendations.
In response, the BCCI had argued that they were not against implementing reforms, but they faced technical impediments. The court however informed the Indian body that they would remove those impediments.
On October 15, the BCCI in its Special General Meeting had decided to oppose some of the reforms suggested by the court-appointed Justice RM Lodha committee, saying they were impractical. The key issues over which the Lodha committee and the BCCI are at loggerheads are the one-vote per state norm, another for one person per post, the age cap for office-bearers, and the cooling-off period.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!