Not much has changed since the Supreme Court’s decision to validate the Justice Lodha committee’s report on reforms in cricket which proposed a complete makeover of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in order to rid the system of a group of individuals who had held on to power for a long time.
In the last five and a half months, the Supreme Court and the member committee of Justice R.M. Lodha, Ashok Bhan and R.M. Raveendran found that the majority of the BCCI members did not show any inclination in complying with the recommendations before the deadline of December 15, 2016. The Lodha Committee filed three Status reports explaining the impediments faced by it in implementing its own recommendations as mandated by the Supreme Court.
Twice, the Committee proposed to the apex court that the principal office-bearers of the BCCI be replaced by a panel of administrators from within the Board. In its last Status report, the Committee stated that since the Supreme Court had accepted its recommendations almost in toto, those who came under the purview of its recommendations stand disqualified or cease to exist.
On Monday, the Supreme Court, acting on the third Status report and also on the previous ones, removed president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke from their posts.
Justice Lodha’s statement sums up the whole episode in totality. “Nobody can escape the verdict from the highest court of the land, this is the logical consequence. Once the recommendations were accepted by the court, it had be implemented. There were obstructions, there were impediments. Obviously, this had to happen, and it has happened. The Supreme Court itself has ensured that its order of July 18 is now enforced. It’s a victory for the game of cricket and it will flourish; administrators come and go, ultimately it is for the game,” he said after Monday’s verdict.
It’s expected that, most probably on January 19, the Committee of Administrators will come into existence. They will ensure that the BCCI’s Memorandum of Association, Rules and Regulations is replaced by the one authored by the Justice Lodha Committee. Clearly, the Supreme Court wants the BCCI itself to be part and parcel of the implementation process with the Committee of Administrators playing the facilitator role.
