The Supreme Court on Tuesday held the BCCI’s “lackadaisical” approach responsible for the current rot in cricket and hoped that the board’s one-man commission’s probe would fix the “aberration” to ensure cricket remains a gentleman’s game. It, however, refused to stay the conduct of semis and final of the IPl.
A Vacation Bench of Justices BS Chauhan and Dipak Misra while hearing a PIl seeking ban on IPl matches and a special investigation team to enquire into the spot-fixing row made a stinging criticism of Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) for the present state of affairs. “The whole problem is your lackadaisical attitude. It must stop,” the bench said.
It refused to order a ban as prayed in the petition filed by a lucknow resident Sudarsha Awasthi as it said that a mere deficiency did not warrant a ban of the game. But alive to the other concern raised by the petitioner’s lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, the Bench told BCCI, “We are not on individual players but on the irregularities in the IPl. What measures are you taking to rectify itIJ”
Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, who represented the board, informed the court that a commission of its anti-corruption unit head Ravi Sawani, a former DGP, will be presenting a report in 15 days, based on which the Disciplinary Committee will act against the players in question.
The court stressed on the larger interest of the game. Ordering the report to be tabled in 15 days, it directed Sawani Commission to adopt a rational and scientific approach in specifying the systemic deficiencies noticed in the IPl matches based on which the BCCI was further asked to take immediate and appropriate steps to “eradicate” the aberrations.
It reminded the BCCI that the game of cricket enjoyed a 125 year old worldwide reputation and therefore “it is the responsibility of BCCI to maintain and sustain the reputation of the game.”
The court said lapses on part of players and teams in IPl also affected viewers and lovers of the game. It warned the BCCI that if lessons were not learnt now, “viewers may not always be able to respond with quietus.” Urging the board to bear this fact in mind, the court directed the inquiry commission not to allow any guilty players or teams to escape using any “subterfuge”.