NEW DELHI: Miffed by the Indian cricket board’s defiance of the reforms ordered by the Supreme Court, the Justice R M Lodha committee urged the SC to appoint ex-Union home secretary G K Pillai as “observer” of the BCCI and the state units-something that will render the present office-bearers powerless. The panel requested the SC to direct that “all administrative and management matters be carried out by the BCCI CEO without advertence to the office-bearers
If the SC agrees, then CEO Rahul Johri will manage the BCCI under Pillai’s supervision, without having to take orders from president Anurag Thakur and his team. The panel said Pillai should have the power to appoint an auditor to scrutinize the BCCI’s accounts and tenders. Future money matters relating to domestic, international and IPL matches should also be handled by the CEO under Pillai’s supervision with assistance from the auditor, the Lodha panel suggested. In fact, the contents of the committee’s three-page application submitted to the SC through its secretary Gopal Sankaranarayanan could set off tremors not only in the BCCI but also in state associations.
For instance, besides urging the bench headed by CJI T S Thakur to appoint Pillai as the “observer of the BCCI to supervise its administration”, the Lodha panel said it be empowered to appoint all necessary secretarial staff and fix remuneration as may be deemed appropriate. The panel also includes retired SC judges Ashok Bhan and R V Raveendran.
Finding that the BCCI and state associations had not implemented the July 18 judgment mandating reforms, the SC had ordered a halt to all financial grants from the board to state associations till they fell in line. In the July 18 judgment, the SC had put seven criteria for the existing members – they should be Indian citizens, under 70 years of age, not be insolvent or of unsound mind, not be a minister or a government servant, not hold a post in any other sports association or federation apart from cricket, should not have been an office-bearer in the BCCI for nine years cumulatively; and should not be charged by a court of law for a criminal offence.
