The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India to provide an undertaking whether it will unconditionally implement all the approved recommendations of the Justice Lodha committee. The apex court will announce its verdict on Friday depending on the BCCI's response.
The Supreme Court agreed to examine the Justice Lodha committee's plea to supersede the BCCI's top functionaries and replace them with a panel of administrators. Chief Justice of India TS Thakur asked the Lodha panel's counsel what qualifications they want in the administrators who will take over the BCCI on an interim basis, reported The Indian Express. The Supreme Court said that either the BCCI elects new administrators, or the Lodha panel gives the board more time to "fall in line".
Chief Justice Thakur also criticised the BCCI for transferring Rs 400 crore overnight to its state associations, which went against the Lodha panel's recommendations. Justice Thakur said that the BCCI should have exercised transparency when funding state associations, adding that an amount as large as Rs 400 crore cannot be disbursed overnight. The BCCI's lawyer told the court that the matter dates back to the 2015-'16 season when broadcasters Star Sports and Sony had given the board compensation for the cancellation of a tournament, and that money was to be given to the state associations.
The BCCI had earlier submitted its reply to the status report filed by the Justice Lodha committee demanding the board's top office bearers to be replaced. The BCCI refuted allegations of non-compliance with the committee's recommendations. The panel's status report had asked the Supreme Court to sack the BCCI's top functionaries for non-compliance, as the board had failed to implement all the recommendations approved by the apex court bench before the deadline of September 30.
The BCCI told the court that "a meeting comprising all members took place, and several recommendations of the Lodha Committee were rejected by voting". It added that "records of 40 mails sent to Justice Lodha will be submitted to the court" and it was "not true that we did not respond to [the] committee's [e]mails", as was claimed in the status report. The same apex court bench headed by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur, which had approved most of the Lodha panel's recommendations, is hearing the case.
The BCCI had drawn the ire of the Supreme Court after the Lodha committee submitted its status report, listing violations committed by the board at its Annual General Meeting last month.
In its report, the panel noted that several emails from them went unacknowledged by the BCCI, while the Indian cricket body also floated a tender for media rights for the India-West Indies Twenty20 International series in August without providing any details of eligibility or qualification, which went against the SC judgement. It also took strong umbrage against remarks made by Justice Markandey Katju, who has been appointed as a legal counsel for the BCCI and president Anurag Thakur, against the SC ruling.
Trying to figure out what the BCCI vs Lodha panel battle is all about? Here is a handy guide.
