Lodha asks Supreme Court to supersede BCCI top brass

The Lodha Committee has significantly raised the pressure on the BCCI by asking the Supreme Court to "supersede" the board's top brass with "immediate effect" because its officials have not complied with various timelines set by the Committee to implement its recommendations.

The Committee suggested that a "panel of administrators" take charge of the BCCI to oversee the implementation of the Lodha report's recommendations that were ratified by the Supreme Court on July 18.

In the status report submitted to the court on Wednesday, September 28, Lodha elaborated on the BCCI's transgressions.

"While the Office Bearers of the BCCI gave assurances to the SC Committee on August 9, August 25 and September 20, 2016 that they would cooperate with the Committee towards fulfilling the directions of this Hon'ble Court (subject to any modification or review), the events over the past weeks have shown that this is not the case," Lodha said in the status report. "Directions of this Hon'ble Court have been ignored, actions have been taken to present a fait accompli to the Committee, the directives of the Committee have been breached, and member associations have not been duly intimated about the directions of the Committee and the timelines fixed by it.

"With as many as seven of the timelines to be complied with by September 30, 2016, it is now clear that the BCCI is in no position to ensure that the timelines mandated to be laid down by this Hon'ble Court are complied with. The conduct of the office bearers of the BCCI in not following the direction of the SC Committee has created serious impediments in the implementation of the directions of this Hon'ble Court."

According to the Lodha Committee, the decisions taken by the BCCI at its AGM on September 21 were "contrary" to the court order issued on July 18 by TS Thakur, the Chief Justice of India, and Supreme Court judge Ibrahim Kallifulla.

"In view of all the above, the Committee seeks the following directions from this Hon'ble Court: Supersede the present Office Bearers of the BCCI with immediate effect; and appoint in their place a Panel of Administrators of the BCCI to ensure the smooth transition from the old to the new system recommended by the Committee," Lodha said in the status report.

"Direct that all decisions of the BCCI taken after July 18, 2016, which are contrary to the judgment dated July 18, 2016, of this Hon'ble Court and/or the directives of the SC Committee for implementing the same are non est and ineffective; and any other direction as may be deemed fit for the implementation of the judgement dated 18.7.2016."

Drawing up a timeline of events since the Supreme Court's order on July 18, Lodha said the BCCI had remained unresponsive when reminded about various issues.

The Committee said it had received the agenda for the BCCI AGM on September 17, four days before the meeting, through other sources and not from the board. Upon perusal it had found that "almost all items" on the agenda were violations of the directions given by the Committee to BCCI chief executive Rahul Johri in an email on August 31.

The Committee had reminded Johri "to limit" the AGM's agenda to routine business for the year 2015-16. "The purpose of this direction was to ensure that the recommendations which had to be implemented are not circumvented by delaying the formal adoption of the MoA and Rules & Regulations by the BCCI by creating fait accompli," Lodha said.

Providing an example of the BCCI not following instructions at the AGM, Lodha said Ajay Shirke, the lone nominee for the secretary's post, had failed to mention whether he was eligible for the post. "The Nomination Form for the Secretary's post requires an undertaking to be given by the candidate that he possesses the requisite eligibility for continuing till 2017."

The BCCI elected Shirke as the secretary at the AGM, appointed five-member selection panels for the men, women and junior teams, appointed its president Anurag Thakur and former president Sharad Pawar as representatives to ICC Board meetings, and Shirke for the ICC's chief executives' meeting, and also approved the budget for 2016-17.

The Lodha Committee has still not been provided with the minutes of the AGM by the BCCI.

The Committee also took exception to the BCCI announcing a special general meeting (SGM) on September 30. The BCCI, Lodha said, was supposed to hold an executive general body meeting (EGM) by September 28, when it would adopt the new Memorandum of Association and Rules (MoA), the first step needed to adopt the recommendations of the Lodha Committee. Instead Shirke had written to the Committee on September 22 stating the BCCI would "consider" the amendments suggested at the SGM.

The Lodha Committee - comprising Lodha and retired Supreme Court judges Ashok Bhan and R Raveendran - was formed in January 2015 to determine appropriate punishments for some of the officials involved in the 2013 IPL corruption scandal, and also to propose changes to streamline the BCCI, reform its functioning, prevent sporting fraud and conflict of interest.