SC displeased over public sparring

The Supreme Court Thursday expressed displeasure over sparring between BCCI Committee of Administrators (CoA) chief Vinod Rai and its member Diana Edulji and said they should not bring their differences in public domain.

The apex court, while observing that it was partially aware of what was going on in the CoA, said that whosoever is involved in these issues, they should not bring it in public domain.

"We have heard in newspaper reports that some sparring is going on between CoA members. We want to know is it correct?" asked a bench comprising Justices S A Bobde and A M Sapre.

Senior advocate Parag Tripathi, appearing for the CoA, responded, "Not on core issues."

To this, the bench said, "We have thought to tell the amicus curiae to inform them (CoA members) that whosoever is involved, they should not bring it in public domain. It should not come in public domain".

In 2017, the apex court had appointed a four-member CoA, headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Vinod Rai, to run the affairs of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and implement the court-approved recommendations of the Justice R M Lodha panel on reforms in the cash-rich cricket body.

The two-member CoA has been divided on several matters including the recent controversy involving cricketers Hardik Pandya and K L Rahul. Pandya and Rahul had attracted widespread criticism for their alleged misogynistic comments on TV Show 'Koffee with Karan'.

Then came the on the controversy relating to exclusion of Indian women cricketer Mithali Raj from the playing 11 in the crucial semi-final match of the recently concluded women's world cup.