BCCI ombudsman, COA member named
› I have been actively involved in sporting activities during my time in the Indian Army. But yes, this is my first foray into administration. LT. GEN RAVI THODGE, on being named in COA
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court appointed former apex court judge Justice DK Jain as the first ombudsman for BCCI under the newly-approved constitution of the cricket board on Thursday. It also appointed Lieutenant General Ravi Thodge as the third member of the Committee of Administrators (COA) for BCCI. The COA initially had four members but were left with only two after the resignations of historian Ramachandra Guha and banker Vikram Limaye.
“I have been actively involved in sporting activities during my time in the Indian Army. But yes, this is my first foray into sports administration,” Thodge, who is expected to attend Friday’s COA meeting in New Delhi, told PTI.
Stressing on the “importance and urgency” in appointing an ombudsman, the bench led by Justice SA Bobde also expressed unhappiness over “public sparring” between COA chief Vinod Rai and its member Diana Edulji. Rai and Edulji were divided over several matters including the recent controversy involving cricketers Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul who were provisionally suspended over sexist comments on a popular TV talk show.
Rai had reportedly recommended a two-match ban but Edulji was in favour of referring the matter to the BCCI legal cell that had recommended the appointment of an ombudsman. Rai and Edulji also reportedly had differences on the controversy surrounding the exclusion of senior women’s cricketer Mithali Raj from the team in a crucial World Cup semi-final. “We have read in newspapers that some sparring is going on between the COA members… tell them not to go public with their differences,” Justice Bobde said.
The judges were happy that the parties were unanimous over Justice Jain’s nomination.
The ombudsman will have to hold hearings at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai. The need for an ombudsman was flagged by the COA in its tenth status report. The COA has been monitoring administrative issues of the cricket body. “The newly registered constitution of BCCI requires the appointment of an Ombudsman at the Annual General Meeting for the purpose of providing an independent dispute resolution mechanism...,” the COA report had said.
Before the new constitution came into effect, former chief justice of Delhi High Court, Justice AP Shah, was appointed BCCI ombudsman in November 2015 but he could not complete his tenure. The names of probable ombudsmen were provided to the bench by senior advocate PS Narasimha and the court chose Justice Jain. The types of disputes that come under the ambit of ombudsman pertain to members, associations and IPL franchisee.
The court also sought Narasimha’s opinion on former BCCI president Anurag Thakur’s application seeking recall of its January 2, 2017 order that made adverse remarks against him, while directing him to step down. The court held he had defied its orders to implement the Justice RM Lodha panel reforms.