Lodha committee seeks five months to complete report

The RM Lodha committee has sought an additional five months to complete the second part of the task assigned to it by the Supreme Court that deals with recommending changes to the BCCI's constitution and manner of functioning. The committee submitted an application in the Supreme Court on Monday stating that a further five months may be given to complete the rest of the work. It is likely to be listed before the court next week.

The Lodha committee was primarily tasked with determining the quantum of punishment for Gurunath Meiyappan, Raj Kundra and their respective franchises. Last week the committee delivered its judgement by banning Meiyappan and Kundra for life and suspending the owners of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two years.

But while delivering its seminal and wide-ranging order on corruption in the IPL earlier this year, the Supreme Court had also asked the three-man independent panel - comprising Lodha, a former Chief Justice of India, along with retired Supreme Court judges Ashok Bhan and RV Raveendran - to "examine and make suitable recommendations to the BCCI for such reforms in its practices and procedures and such amendments in the Memorandum of Association, Rules and Regulations as may be considered necessary and proper."

The court wanted the committee to suggest amendments to the processes followed by the BCCI "with a view to preventing sporting frauds, conflict of interests, streamlining the working of BCCI to make it more responsive to the expectations of the public at large."

The committee initiated that process in April when it sent an exhaustive, pointed and incisive 82-point questionnaire to various high-ranked BCCI officials, both past and present. The questions were split into eight sections, including an understanding of how the BCCI and its stakeholders function, the basis and formation of the board's various committees, the election process, players' welfare, conflict of interest and transparency in the IPL.