Anurag Thakur seeks modification of 2017 order in BCCI case
Former Union Minister and ex-BCCI president Anurag Thakur has moved the Supreme Court seeking modification of an earlier top court order directing him to “cease and desist” from being associated with the affairs of the cricket board. A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joyamalya Bagchi agreed to hear the plea after two weeks.
Senior advocate PS Patwalia, appearing for Thakur, told the bench that on January 2, 2017, the top court had ordered the former Minister to forthwith “cease and desist” from being associated with the working of the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) and initiated contempt and perjury proceedings against him.
“That order was passed without hearing me. This court, however, dropped the contempt and perjury proceedings. Now, I am seeking that this ‘cease and desist’ direction be modified,” said Patwalia. The bench told Patwalia that the court will hear the matter after two weeks and the rest of the petitions and applications related to the BCCI will be taken up after three weeks.
It asked senior advocate Maninder Singh, appointed as amicus curiae in the matter, to segregate all intervention and interlocutory applications based on issue and put them before the court accordingly.
The top court had initiated contempt and perjury proceedings against Thakur on January 2, 2017, for filing a false affidavit regarding writing to the then International Cricket Council (ICC) chairperson Shashank Manohar on the issue of the BCCI’s autonomy.
“The conduct of the President of BCCI in seeking a letter from the President of ICC in August 2016 after the final judgement and order of this Court is nothing but an attempt on the part of the head of BCCI to evade complying with the order of this Court,” the apex court had said while issuing a show cause notice to Thakur.
On July 14, 2017, the top court granted relief to Thakur and dropped the contempt and perjury proceedings against him after he tendered an unconditional and unequivocal apology to it in person.
