The Supreme Court on Wednesday poured scorn over the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after the Justice RM lodha Panel recommended removal of the top functionaries of the Board, including its president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke for non-compliance of the court’s order for ushering in sweeping structural reforms in the cricket body.
Asking the BCCI to “fall in line”, a Bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur told the BCCI’s counsel that the cricket body cannot “behave like lords” by choosing to defy the court’s orders. The court gave the Board time till October 6 to respond to a status report submitted by the lodha Panel that sought removal of the BCCI top brass and appointment of a Panel of Administrators for smooth roll out of reforms in the BCCI.
Presenting the status report to the court, advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who is secretary to the lodha Committee, pointed out instances to show how the Board undermined the committee by successive steps like refusing to respond to its e-mails and issuing damning statements.
He also referred to the BCCI’s decision to appoint Justice (Retd) Markandey Katju to go into the lodha panel recommendations instead of implementing them. Sankaranarayanan lamented that Katju made derogatory remarks against the committee members and judges of the SC.
The lodha Committee further said that Thakur had not responded to several e-mails sent to him and also the direction to appear before the panel on August 9.
“He (BCCI president) has also requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) to issue a letter stating that this committee amounts to Governmental interference. In addition, over the course of the last few weeks, several very objectionable statements have been made by him to the Press which undermine this (Supreme) Court and this committee,” the panel’s report said.
In the July 18 judgment, the apex court had given six months’ time to the lodha Committee to implement reforms in the BCCI. In connection with the same, the committee made several attempts to hold a meeting with the BCCI top brass but failed to get any response.
Prior to the BCCI annual general body meeting on September 21, the committee conveyed to the Board that pending the reforms, it should not take any decision on matters relating to business of the next year.
In its status report filed in the apex court, the lodha Panel said that some of the decisions, including Ajay Shirke’s unanimous election as secretary of BCCI for the remaining part of the term, taken by the BCCI at its AGM, were violative of directives issued by the committee on August 31 and “frustrates the implementation” of the apex court’s judgment
The committee urged the court to “supersede” the present office-bearers, including secretary and president of the BCCI and appoint a panel of administrators to usher in the new system recommended by the committee.
In addition, the panel, also comprising Justices Ashok Bhan and RV Raveendran, said that all decisions of the BCCI, taken after the decision of the apex court on July 18 should be set aside. It said, “The conduct of the officer-bearers of the BCCI in not following the directions of the SC panel has created serious impediments in the implementation of directions of this court.”
Regarding some decisions taken at the AGM, like setting up of the all-India senior selection committee, authorising the president and secretary to appoint an ombudsman for 2016-17 as the term of Justice AP Shah has come to an end, the status report said it was in violation of the panel’s directives.
It also said the decision that the BCCI president would represent the Board in the ICC and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and holding of an emergent special general meeting on September 30 in Mumbai to consider amendments to the BCCI’s rules and regulations as recommended by Justice lodha panel, were in violation of the directives.
Referring to some of the impediments, the committee said the board has not issued directives to member associations despite directions from the panel on at least four occasions and the selectors of men, women and junior cricket were announced contrary to the norms approved by the apex court.
“It was stated in the BCCI report dated August 25 that an EGM would be called ‘not later than September 28’ for the ‘formal adoption’ of the new memorandum. The BCCI did not honour this assurance and on the other hand, at the AGM of September 21, took decisions contrary to the said assurances by deciding that the EGM would be on September 30 ‘to consider’ amendments to the rules and regulations,” it said.
“The BCCI has prescribed an undertaking for nomination to the post of BCCI secretary which is not in accordance with the norms approved by this court,” it said, adding, “no second status report has been furnished, although it was undertaken to do so within a fortnight after August 25.”
The report said that despite continually claiming that all steps taken would be subject to the review petition filed, “It transpired that the same is in defects with diary number...Even as of date and there has been no effort to rectify the same and have it numbered and listed.”
The report said several actions taken by the BCCI, which were grossly out of order and would even constitute contempt, includes the “acceptance of the so-called interim report of Justice Katju and the uploading of the same on the BCCI website.”