The Supreme Court may force the Board of Control for Cricket in India to deny financial assistance to State cricket association not endorsing Justice lodha panel recommendation on administrative and organisational reforms in the cricket body. The court hinted this on Thursday after the BCCI expressed its helplessness in adopting the reforms, saying three-fourth of the member States have opposed the lodha panel reforms.
The Bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur said it will pass an order to this effect on Friday as it was fed up with the ways of the BCCI. The Bench, also comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, felt this was the only way to make the BCCI comply with its directions since the Board refused to give an “unconditional undertaking” to adopt path-breaking reforms forming part of the Court’s order of July 18, 2016.
The Bench told senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared for the BCCI that it cannot waste time to reform the BCCI. “Here are people who refuse to reform despite our order. If you are willing to give an unconditional undertaking to implement our order and abide by all orders given by lodha Committee, we are willing to change our mind. If not, then we will pass some interim order. You have disbursed to them (States) about Rs400 crore which is not a small amount.
Nobody can say I must get my money but I am not willing to reform.”
Sibal submitted that in the Board meeting of September 30, the new Memorandum failed to get support from the 30-member associations, who defeated its adoption.
“The BCCI has no control over State cricket associations. We had told them to adopt the new Memorandum. The BCCI does not have a vote as the State associations have a vote. Either they are compelled to fall in line by a judicial order or as the lodha Committee has suggested, they may be delinked from BCCI by denying them any funds.”
Amicus curiae Gopal Subramanium pointed out that the BCCI disbursed funds to the tune of Rs 400 crore to 25 cricket associations on September 29 with a design to get their vote the next day to reject the memorandum. This payment was made without any resolution by the Board, he added.
The court felt that this attitude of the BCCI to defy the court had forced the lodha Committee to even seek supersession of the Board office-bearers with an independent panel of administrators.”If you are at the forefront of defiance, others will follow suit,” said the Bench, adding, “You have no obligation to pay people who don’t listen to you. If the State associations are so keen to hold matches, they must know matches should be conducted only if they are doing business transparently.”