Lodha Panel vs BCCI: Amicus curiae Gopal Subramaniam recommends Supreme Court to sack cricketing body’s top brass

The board led by Anurag Thakur continues to object to measures such as 'one state, one vote', 'one person, one post', 'cooling off period of 3 years after serving one term' and 'age cap of 70 years'.

New Delhi, Oct 17: Trouble brews for the top brass of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as the Supreme Court is likely to take a decisive stand in the matter. In the court hearing on Monday, amicus curiae Gopal Subramaniam asked the bench headed by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur to appoint a new administrator to run the cricketing body. Subramanian also provided court with the option of allowing Lodha committee to form a new administration panel which could replace the current BCCI top brass. The recommendation of Subramanian was sought by the court as BCCI has failed to accept the slew of reforms suggested by the panel headed by Justice (retd) R M Lodha.

Even after the high-level meeting of BCCI officials on Saturday, no decision could be taken regarding the acceptance of Lodha panel in totality. The board led by Anurag Thakur continues to object to measures such as ‘one state, one vote’, ‘one person, one post’, ‘cooling off period of 3 years after serving one term’ and ‘age cap of 70 years’. BCCI has staunchly objected to these measures, claiming that it would negatively impact the functioning of the cricketing body. Defendants of status-quo have highlighted the impressive success of India in international cricket, stressing that the current set-up of board has created a system of identifying, honing, nurturing and promoting the best of talents from across the nation.

Lodha Panel recommendation matter: SC reserves its order after BCCI seeks more time to implement Lodha reforms.

— ANI (@ANI_news) October 17, 2016

As of now, only the BCCI state associations of Tripura, Vidarbha and Rajasthan have accepted the Lodha panel recommendations. Supreme Court has instructed BCCI to stop releasing any amount of funds to the state associations which have not accepted the recommendations of Lodha panel. (ALSO READ: BCCI misleading people on several key issues: Lodha Panel)

In the previous hearing on October 7, Supreme Court bench headed by CJI T S Thakur had given a period of additional 10 days to BCCI to accept the Lodha panel recommendations. The bench had warned that continued defiance of court’s instruction would compel them to order the replacement of current top brass of BCCI with a panel which would be appointed by wither the Supreme Court or the Lodha panel. (ALSO READ: Supreme Court instructs BCCI to file affidavit accepting Lodha panel report; bars release of funds to state associations)

Earlier, the BCCI had warned to call off the ongoing bilateral home series with New Zealand due to the continued interference by the court in the functioning of the cricketing body. However, BCCI soon toed the line after court warned off severe consequences.

Earlier during the hearing, BCCI chief Anurag Thakur submitted an affidavit answering the query of whether he demanded International Cricket Council (ICC) to object to the Lodha panel reforms on account of governmental interference.