BCCI gets...

The justice Lodha Committee had recommended that these, and National Cricket Club (Kolkata), and Cricket Club of India (Mumbai), not be granted full membership of BCCI.

And officials can now continue for two terms in office, as against one earlier, before entering the three-year cooling-off period.

The 90-year old BCCI has been directed to adopt the new constitution in a month’s time and file a report in the top court. State associations, too, have been directed by the court to change their constitutions “on similar lines within a period of 30 days after BCCI changes its rules”.

The court also increased the strength of the national selection committee back to five — the justice Lodha Committee had suggested reducing it to three.

Justice Lodha expressed his unhappiness at some of the changes: “While I wouldn’t say we are back to square one, I am not very happy as the fundamental structure of the reforms has been changed and affected. This is a weakened structure as compared to the one we had suggested.” However, the court refused to revisit the Justice Lodha Committee suggestions on disqualification of BCCI members and insisted that no minister or government servant or anyone who is more than 70 years of age can hold a BCCI office.

Vinod Rai, the chairman of the Committee of Administrators, however, welcomed the court’s order in a response to the Press Trust of India. He said that he, too, had originally wanted a sixyear term for office bearers before the cooling-off period.

Setting up the justice Mukul Mudgal Committee in the backdrop of the 2013 IPL betting controversy, the Supreme Court observed “there is cloud over the working of the BCCI” and it has left followers of the game “worried and deeply suspicious about what goes on in the name of the game”. The committee submitted its report in November 2014. In January 2015, the Supreme Court-appointed a committee under justice Lodha to determine the punishment for those involved in the IPL betting scandal, and also suggest ways to reform BCCI. The committee submitted its report in January 2016. The Supreme Court accepted most of its recommendations in July of the same year. After BCCI dragged its feet over implementing the changes suggested, the Supreme Court appointed the Committee of Administrators in January 2017. Indian cricket’s big impasse started then. In between, in August 2017, BCCI filed a review petition before the court. Thursday’s ruling by the court has hopefully ended the impasse, but has also walked back some of the justice Lodha Committee’s more radical reforms. dictions among parties which oppose the BJP. Two, the outcome is not a complete reflection of the ground-level battles in politics. The BJD, for instance, may have voted for the BJP but both parties will fight each other on the ground in Odisha. And finally, it shows that the real game will open up post-polls, if and when no party is able to attain the majority mark of 273 (in the Lok Sabha.”

After the outcome though, leaders from across the spectrum came together to congratulate Harivansh , a long-time editor of Prabhat Khabar, a regional paper published out of Ranchi, and a former media advisor to the late ex- Prime Minister Chandrashekhar, who commanded respect across party lines. PM Modi said, “Ab sab kuch Hari bharose hai (now, everything is dependent on Hari). And I am confident every member, on this side (treasury) or that side (opposition) will have his mercy.” Modi recounted his association with both Chandrashekhar and the late socialist icon and anti-emergency crusader, Jayaprakash Narayan. Both Harivansh and JP (as he was popularly called) hail from Balia in UP.

Union minister and leader of the house Arun Jaitley, returned to the Rajya Sabha for the first time after a surgery in May, to much cheer and goodwill. He said, “In the house, he (Harivansh) has never made personal attacks on anyone. I am hopeful he will enhance the dignity of the house and maintain a balance between government business and the opposition raising issues of public importance.”

Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the deputy chairman does not represent any party. “I request him to look at the left and left of the centre.” their eyes, mouths and wrists, as part of a ‘Thiyya andolan’, or sit-in protest. Sanjay Gharge, a resident of Bhandup,said, “This is the peaceful protest organised by Marathas. We are not causing any damage to public property, or causing a law and order issue. Yet the government has refused to heed to our demands. The black band on my eyes symbolises the government’s unwillingness to acknowledge and see us.”

Dilip Patil, the Mumbai president of the Maratha Mahasang, had an upside down photograph of the chief minister tied around his neck. “It appears the chief minister is not thinking, despite the multiple protests. In such cases, it is prescribed for more blood to flow to the head, for clarity of thought.”

Kolhapur, Jalna, Akola, Yavatmal, Beed, Amravati, Osmanabad, Dhule, Ahmednagar, Solapur, Wardha and Sangli also saw protests, with agitators blocking the Latur-barshi, Mumbai-pune, Pune- Bangalore, Jalna-aurangabad, and Latur-tuljapur highways. Protestors stopped the Coimbatore Express at the Lonavala railway station. Services were disrupted for 10 minutes. At Latur, Congress MLA Trimbak Bhise was manhandled by agitators during a protest. Some of them pelted stones at his car. A fire brigade vehicle was also attacked, injuring seven firemen. At Hingoli, protestors set two vehicles on fire. In Jalgaon, protestor Suresh Marathe tried to immolate himself with kerosene but was stopped by a few others. In Nagpur, protestors lied down on railway tracks in front of a fast moving train, but they were saved by the police force. In Aurangabad, a mob set a private vehicle and a police car on fire.

From August 10, Maratha outfits have planned a non-cooperation movement across the state until their demands are met. Sanjiv Bhor Patil, the state coordinator, said this means the community will not pay power bills of agriculture pumps and taxes, among other things.

Patil said he believed the cases of violence were being orchestrated by a few people to “defame” the community. “We have requested the community not to indulge in violence. Despite that, the violence we saw... it looks like some miscreants were involved to defame our agitation,” he said.