The Justice Lodha Committee on Monday sought the Supreme Court’s approval to appoint former Union home secretary GK Pillai as an observer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and dismiss a few of the body’s top officials, PTI reported.
The Supreme Court-appointed panel said Pillai could appoint auditors to oversee BCCI-related contracts, including deals involving media rights for future editions of the Indian Premier League, NDTV reported. The committee added that the observer could also appoint all other required secretarial staff and handle assistance and remuneration as recommended, ANI reported.
On October 17, the apex court had reserved its order after the board requested for more time to implement the panel’s recommendations. Amicus curiae Gopal Subramaniam had requested the court to appoint an administrator or have the Lodha Committee look over the BCCI’s administration.
The board’s counsel, Kapil Sibal, had said that the cricketing body had implemented several of the committee’s recommendations, but that it needed more time to rope in its state associations to accept the suggestions. The BCCI had said that its state associations had opposed the reforms, while it has remained firm on its objection to the “one state, one vote” recommendation.
The Lodha panel was formed 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. The committee has recommended major reforms and an administrative rejig in the cricketing body, which the BCCI has refused to implement so far.
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