On day of triumph, Aditya Verma is on his own as Supreme Court okays BCCI overhaul

Aditya Verma's petition in the Bombay HC resulted in N Srinivasan’s ouster, setting up of the Lodha Committee and finally the SC’s order to implement most of the Lodha panel recommendations.

Aditya Verma is a reason why the BCCI suffered a whiplash in the apex court.

Minutes after the SC verdict on Lodha recommendations, Aditya Verma, the original petitioner in this historic case, faced the camera all alone. His son too was in court today but he watched his father from a distance. The man who trigerred Indian cricket’s overhauling has been playing a lone-ranger of late. Those who backed him when he filed the case against the erstwhile BCCI president N Srinivasan would eventually distance themselves from him. They wanted Srinivasan out but they didn’t expect or brace up for the collateral damange, the total dismantling of the BCCI organisational structure.

After the verdict was delivered, Verma, who never misses a chance to quote from mythology, drew a parallel between his “triumph” and the victory achieved by the Pandavas in the Mahabharata. “Sree Krishna demanded five villages for the Pandavas but Duryodhana denied him that and the result was the destruction of the Kauravas. In this ‘Mahabharata’, I just demanded affiliation for my Cricket Association of Bihar. The BCCI turned a deaf ear and the result was the complete overhaul of the country’s cricketing structure,” Verma, the Cricket Association of Bihar secretary, told The Indian Express.

Verma is a reason why the BCCI suffered a whiplash in the apex court. His petition in the Bombay High Court in May 2013 resulted in Srinivasan’s ouster, setting up of the Lodha Committee and finally the Supreme Court’s order to implement most of the Lodha panel recommendations. But why did he seek legal recourse? “I moved court because Indian cricket had been shamed in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal. Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested but Srinivasan arbitrarily formed a three-member committee comprising two retired judges from the Madras High Court and (then BCCI secretary) Sanjay Jagdale, ostensibly to save his son-in-law. I decided to challenge it and the Bombay High Court eventually declared Srinivasan’s panel null and void. The BCCI challenged the decision in the Supreme Court in August 2013 and dug its own grave,” he says.

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Back then, Verma had the support of the high and mighty. “Before every hearing, I would send Shashank (Manohar) documents. He would give me legal advice. Anurag Thakur would give me moral support. He would call me to his house and encourage me in my fight. Niranjan Shah used to call me from abroad to check what is happening in court,” he had said during an interview with this paper three months ago. But after Srinivasan had been dealt with by the court, things changed. “People ditched me because I was raising uncomfortable questions. I always wanted absolute implementation of the Lodha report, which didn’t go down well with the BCCI officials. I have been pressing for Cricket Association of Bihar’s recognition and this is my triumph. Budding cricketers from Bihar had been denied their fundamental rights. Thanks to the Indian judiciary, they can dream again,” said Verma.

A 52-year-old businessman from Chhapra, Bihar; Verma had been part of the state Ranji team squad and also served as a state selector before coming to cricket administration. Despite the favourable SC verdict, Verma’s battles are far from over. His initial fight, about the recognition of his cricket body in Bihar, is expected to continue.

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