In an endorsement of the Justice R.M. Lodha Committee's work to usher in transparency within BCCI officialdom, leading sportspersons joined hands to ask the Supreme Court to implement the apex court-appointed Lodha panel's sweeping reforms for BCCI on other sporting federations across the spectrum.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar accepted their petition and issued notice to the various federations.
Justice Lodha Committee, which has fought hard to break the administrative tangle within the BCCI, cricket's apex body and one of the richest sports organisations, has been fully supported by the Supreme Court over the past year.
Taking the cue, sportspersons want the same reforms, from ousting 70 year olds from the gelm of various sporting federations to disqualifying government ministers and bureaucrats, to be implemented in other sports federations.
The Supreme Court had upheld the Justice Lodha panel recommendations in a July 18, 2016 judgment, and the time has come to implement them so that work on reforming the Board could go ahead.
Besides the ouster of septuagenarians, government ministers and veterans, the panel had sought the disqualification of BCCI office-bearers who are not Indian citizens, those who hold any office or post in a sports or athletic association or federation apart from cricket, those declared insolvent or of unsound mind and administrators charged with a crime.
“Several office-bearers at both the BCCI and the State associations continue to hold the posts although they stand disqualified as per the order of the Supreme Court. It is submitted that those individuals who fall foul of these norms be declared to cease to hold office forthwith,” a Lodha panel report had said.
