COURT TO BCCI: ‘FALL IN LINE OR WE WILL MAKE YOU FALL IN LINE’

The Supreme Court of India has warned the BCCI that if it “does not fall in line” and follow the court’s directive to implement the Lodha Committee’s recommendations, it will take measures to enforce them. The Chief Justice of India TS Thakur told the BCCI’s lawyer that the board, which has been accused of stalling by the Lodha Committee, had one week to respond.

“BCCI thinks it is law unto itself,” Thakur was quoted as saying by an Indian newspaper. “We know how to get our orders implemented. BCCI thinks it is the lord. You better fall in line or we will make you fall in line. The conduct of the BCCI is in poor taste.” Thakur was responding to the status report submitted by the Lodha Committee on Wednesday. In its report, the Committee had asked the Supreme Court to “supersede” the BCCI’s top brass with “immediate effect” because its officials had not complied with various timelines set by the committee to implement the recommendations passed by the Supreme Court order on July 18.

“BCCI, it seems, will go to the extent of defying court orders,” Thakur said. “We had been anticipating such disregard from the board. We don’t appreciate such tactics by the BCCI. We have no difficulty in passing orders to make sure our previous orders are implemented.” The Lodha Committee had asked the BCCI and its state associations to adopt the new Memorandum of Association and Rules by September 30. It had also sent the BCCI two sets of timelines with various deadlines to implement the recommendations within the six-month time frame set by the court.

In the status report RM Lodha, the chairman of the committee, pointed out that the BCCI had not yet complied with seven timelines, and that it was unlikely the board would do so before the September 30 deadline. The BCCI has called for a special general body meeting (SGM) on September 30, when board secretary Ajay Shirke said it would “consider” the amendments recommended by the Lodha Committee. According to a senior official privy to the meetings between the Lodha Committee and the BCCI, the SGM was the “last chance” for the board. “The SGM is really their complete last chance to ensure compliance. If they haven’t got all those seven timelines in place and don’t adopt the new rules and regulations, they will have no further chance.”

The BCCI has offered resistance to the Lodha Committee’s recommendations, having filed a review petition last month against the Supreme Court’s order directing it to implement most of the recommendations. In the petition, the BCCI called the court order “unreasoned” and asked for the recusal of chief justice Thakur from its hearing. However, the petition has been lying “in defect” because the court raised technical objections to the petition and asked the BCCI to repair them.

The Lodha Committee - comprising Lodha and retired Supreme Court judges Ashok Bhan and R Raveendran - was formed in January 2015 to determine appropriate punishments for some of the officials involved in the 2013 IPL corruption scandal, and also to propose changes to streamline the BCCI, reform its functioning, prevent sporting fraud and conflict of interest.