How Thakur, Shirke ‘ceased to operate’ in seven minutes

NEW DELHI: Resuming after the winter vacation, Monday was much awaited for the different benches of the Supreme Court as eight verdicts were scheduled to be delivered. However, the most awaited one was Item 1-I in Chief Justice TS Thakur’s court No 1. The packed court was expecting a dramatic ruling, and by a written order, BCCI president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke “ceased to operate”.

Calm and composed, the Bench of Justice Thakur, Justice AM Khanwilkar and Dr Justice DY Chandrachud took about seven minutes to decide the fate of the BCCI and it administrators. Justice Chandrachud, seated to the left of the Chief Justice, read the order to shut the door on Thakur, Shirke and others.

The order also sought the help of senior advocate Fali S Nariman, 87, and amicus curiae Gopal Subramanian to suggest new administrators for the BCCI in next two weeks. “Help us identify the administrators. We seek your assistance,” Justice Thakur addressed Fali Nariman, who was present in the court room.

“I am ready to assist this time, I am always here to help the court,” Nariman said politely.

Interestingly, the top legal eagles of the BCCI were not there. Former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi and wicketkeeper Surinder Khanna were present in the public gallery. Later, they joined the celebrations with petitioner Aditya Verma in a garden where tents were being pitched for Justice Thakur’s retirement function on Tuesday. The apex court also decided to send a perjury notice to Thakur.

THE PACKED COURT WAS EXPECTING A DRAMATIC RULING, AND BY A WRITTEN ORDER, THAKUR AND SHIRKE “CEASED TO OPERATE”

KOCHI: Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) president TC Mathew and secretary T N Ananthanarayan resigned from their posts following a Supreme Court verdict. A KCA release said B Vinod Kumar has been appointed as the new president and Jayesh George will serve as the secretary of the association. “The decision was taken at a special General Body Meeting held at Kochi,” it said.

Along with Mathew and Ananthanarayan, other office-bearers including S Haridas, T R Balakrishnan and Sunil Koshy George who have “cumulatively or separately completed nine years in office”, also quit their posts following the directive to implement reforms.