Supreme Court may take final call on Lodha reforms

WATCH VIDEO | BCCI Chief Anurag Thakur Sacked By Supreme Court

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur might also pronounce upon as to whether a panel of administrators should replace the BCCI office-bearers to allow the absolute implementation of the Lodha reforms.

During the December 15 hearing, the court had asked the BCCI to propose names who could replace the existing office-bearers and preside over the game in the country. The board, however, had ruled out the possibility of submitting any names. Accordingly, no suggestion has been forwarded and it’s now for the court to take a call on this matter.

The BCCI had also opposed Pillai’s appointment even as amicus curiae and senior lawyer Gopal Subramanium supported the Lodha Committee and pressed for the appointment of Pillai, ex-CAG Vinod Rai and former India batsman Mohinder Amarnath to supervise the functioning of the cricket board. BCCI counsel Kapil Sibal objected to all the names, especially Pillai, who he said, had a controversial past due to his affidavits in the Ishrat Jahan encounter killing case.

In its July 18 order, the apex court had accepted the majority of the Lodha Committee recommendations but the BCCI members turned against clauses like one state-one vote, 70-year age cap and nine-year cumulative period. This was despite the fact that the governing body of Indian cricket held three general body meetings – on October 1, October 15 and December 2 – with secretary Ajay Shirke proposing the house to accept all Lodha reforms and president Anurag Thakur seconding it. Even the Supreme Court’s October 21 order that stopped all BCCI funds to state associations (for non-compliance) couldn’t force the members to rethink. Only Vidarbha, Tripura and Hyderabad decided to fall in line.

But on December 17, Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) president Sharad Pawar stepped down following an emergent managing committee meeting. “While taking the decision regarding cricket, the Supreme Court has said that the officials should not be above 70 years of age and they have described these positions as ‘lucrative’ which made me very sad. That’s why I don’t wish to work anymore. In reality, the positions are filled through democratic means. Since these appointments were happening through democratic means, I was happy to work in that position,” Pawar, who is 76 years old, said in his resignation letter.

“Let’s wait for the court order. After that whoever will be there in the BCCI will decide the future policies and course of action,” said an official demanding anonymity.

During the last hearing, the court had also said that the BCCI president was prima facie culpable under charges of contempt of court and perjury. The allegation against Thakur is that he apparently lied in his affidavit about seeking a letter from the ICC to assert that the appointment of a government watchdog, the CAG, in the BCCI and all state associations amounted to government interference.

ICC chairman Shashank Manohar, in his response to the court’s query, said Thakur had indeed asked for a letter but he refused to issue it as the request came after the apex court’s July 18 ruling. Thakur’s affidavit, filed in October, said he had only sought a letter of “clarification”. “There’s no question of perjury and I have not lied,” Thakur had said during a media interaction in Jaipur on December 21. Grapevine has it that ICC chief executive David Richardson, who spilled the beans during a TV interview in September, has supported Thakur’s version of the affidavit.

But the matter has already been reserved for order and the bench will decide if Thakur should be prosecuted.