Seventy-year-old former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju seems to be crazy about self publicity by raising controversy in public interest matters. He imagines he is a maverick, which he is not. Mavericks think, react and suggest solutions rather unconventionally. Katju explodes in a bizarre manner. He says publicly that the Supreme Court verdict on BCCI reforms is unconstitutional and illegal. “If we speak about reforms in BCCI, then reforms are needed in the judiciary also. There are more than three crore cases pending in Indian courts.”
Already appointed by the BCCI as its advisor, Katju has asked the board to file a review petition before a larger bench of the apex court and ignore the lodha Committee absolutely without fear. He says he knows the Constitution best, without knowing that the Judiciary has the authority of passing orders when the Executive fails to recognise and act in resolving acute public issues. The brightest example is the forcible legislation in keeping the Collegium intact when the legislature and the Executive had wanted to instal the judicial appointment commission, citing greater public interest. Katju seems to know only the bland text of law; he is shamefully ignorant about the spirit which drives the judiciary without which great democracies would have degenerated into totalitarian states or rotted into crazy military regimes.
Incidentally, the BCCI, the richest cricket body in the world with 5,000 crore rupees in its coffers, is a so called non-profit organisation run mostly by arrogant and unethical vested interests including high profile politicians and government functionaries, which is criminal. Cricket incidentally has killed all other games and indulged in power mongering, nepotism and projecting abysmally lowly creatures as national heroes by intoxicating the youth with immeasurable doses of cricket through the potent visual media. It has promoted ‘betting’ and immoral greed among players that engage in match-fixing. The BCCI evades taxes by guile, though lately tax authorities have slapped multiple crores for violation of laws and stealing. The ordinary public has raised faint voices once in a while, which was heard by the apex court which took cognisance of the several BCCI-generated maladies affecting the common man and the dignity of the nation. Hence, the lodha Committee comprising retired Supreme Court judges Ashok Bhan and R Raveendran to pronounce the quantum of punishment for those found guilty by the Mudgal report probing IPl sins.
The year-long effort was only to remove the ailing parts and revitalise the BCCI for making cricket appropriately dignified. Justice lodha has proposed to make betting legal as it is a 400-billion-dollar global phenomenon. The state could grab some good revenue robbed by criminals.
The BCCI, the national governing body for cricket in India, was formed in December 1928 as a registered nonprofit society under Madras State laws. But its office moved to Bombay and runs from the two big stadiums now. With the surge of cricket in India, the BCCI steadily became rather notorious for its monopoly status is today amidst countless corruption allegations.
The lodha Committee has brought in appreciable reforms by having changed the BCCI constitution drastically. But the evil BCCI guys took Katju on board and appointed him as the defender to face and counter the lodha Committee. Strangely, media-crazy Katju has forgotten that retired Supreme Court judges are barred by the constitution from defending any individual or body entity. They can only be part of an arbitration panel. So, Katju should read the Constitution even cursorily to know that the lodha Committee has a legal right to probe the unethical BCCI.
In 2014-15, the BCCI had organised a series of five One-Day Internationals against the West Indies. But due to international differences between the players and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) over remuneration, the Caribbean team left midway. The so called non-profit BCCI ruthlessly slapped a $41.97 million damage claim on the WICB which said “impossible” as it was crippled financially. But the BCCI kept twisting arms until the WICB agreed to play matches in India to bring the BCCI big money.
The cricket body officials have not even bothered to respond to the notice by the lodha Committee seeking personal appearance of president Thakur and secretary Shirke on August 9. Justice Katju may now realise that corrupt bodies, no matter if completely private need to be hauled up and cut down to size in lines of law to protect public interest. He better retire from active public life and spend the last thirty years or so in learning the tenets and key features of the Indian Constitution so as to remain in clean pages of history. No wonder, under his stewardship, the Press Council has not made any headway on the ethical front. Media people are as good or bad as they were before his landing there.
*Modi, who has lost some ground due to mass tours across the world without ficussing in the domestic ailments, is now making glorious news. He amply proved to be a secular executive head of a nation by fittingly condemning the ‘cow vigilantes’ mostly rogues without respect for secular spirit among communities. His legitimate anxiety that more cows die eating plastic than in slaughter houses holds great significance. Everybody in India must watch the documentary Plastic Cow, made by Kunal Vohra for the Karuna Society for Animals and Nature, has captured in graphic detail the horrible fate that cows in India are condemned to once they stop producing milk. The recent comments of politicians and others in TV debates and newspaper reports on the need to protect the cow in India make one laugh at their hypocrisy. It is the poor animal that has become a pawn in these discussions. The biggest loser on the issue is the animal; nobody seems to really care. Modi indeed is maturing more as a knowing politician than populist one. Probably he is beginning to understand the difference between sordid economic growth and quality of life by displaying utmost respect for all religious communities and bringing them together in happy coexistence.
*lastly, Odisha is still confused over the Mahanadi water issue as no single politician has made sense. The routine Press meet by Bijay Mohapatra wherein he exposed Dharmendra Pradhan as ignorant, has sent waves of speculation that the BJD is contemplating rolling the carpet for the vanquished veteran in a strategic move under the present circumstances. Again, the media is making too much of an ordinary incident. But what hurts is that no single Mr Know-All among the political class seems to know that the Joint Control Board in question has never been in place, let alone be considered toothless or strongly fanged. It has remained an idea only ever since 1983. River water disputes are best settled by special tribunals. Odisha people have to fight for one. Chhattisgarh will not care, or else.
(The writer is a core member of Transparency International, Odisha)