The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Justice RM Lodha Committee to appoint an independent auditor to examine the accounts of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. It also asked the panel to impose a cap on the monetary value of the contracts that the board can sign, and any deal above the limit will need the pane's approval.

The court also ordered BCCI to not release funds to state cricket bodies till they agreed to implement the committee's recommendations. "Not a single penny will be given to state associations until they comply with the Lodha panel," the bench said. The order from the top court might affect the contract for the Indian Premier League and other tournaments, according to The Indian Express.

Moreover, BCCI President Anurag Thakur was asked to submit an undertaking, guaranteeing that the board will comply with the recommendations of the Lodha committee and the court's orders. Thakur will have to file the compliance report affidavit within two weeks, according to ANI. He had earlier said that the cricketing body cannot comply with the guidelines as they were "practically not implementable".

Advertisement

Justice Lodha said he could only comment on the judgment after reading the actual court order. He added that the apex court had done what it thought was best to ensure the implementation of its verdict. "We have nothing against him [Anurag Thakur]. We invited him earlier also. If this is what the court observed, we will definitely interact with him," Lodha said.

The panel Panel was formed by the apex court in January 2015 to look into the affairs of the BCCI, in the aftermath of the spot-fixing scandal in the 2013 edition of the IPL. Comprising former chief justice RM Lodha and retired Supreme Court judges Ashok Bhan and R Raveendran, the committee has recommended major reforms and an administrative rejig in the cricketing body. The key issues over which the Lodha committee and the BCCI are at loggerheads are one vote per state, one person-one post, age cap for office-bearers, and the cooling-off period.

In another development, the BCCI has agreed to use the Decision Review System during the upcoming Test series against England on a trial basis. The DRS is a technology-based system introduced to review controversial decisions made by the on-field umpires. Thakur said, "We confirm that the improved version of DRS will be used on a trial basis during the upcoming series against England. Based on the performance of the system and the feedback we receive, its further continuation will be decided."