The head of the Committee of Administrators (CoA), Vinod Rai, made a categorical statement to a cable television channel on Saturday that his three-member committee comprising former India captain Diana Edulji, Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Ravi Thodge and himself would demit the day the BCCI elections are conducted.
The CoA has initiated the process and set a timeline for the BCCI AGM and elections culminating on Oct. 22.
The CoA was appointed at the instance of the Lodha Committee and after the BCCI failed to implement the reforms in the given time between four and six months after the apex court order of July 18, 2016.
Panel’s observations
The Lodha panel noted in its status report that “the directions of the apex court were ignored, actions were taken by the BCCI to present a fait accompli to the Committee, the directives issued by the Committee were breached and the BCCI repeatedly took steps to undermine its authority of the Committee and the Court with several statements and actions which were grossly out of order and that would even constitute contempt”.
The apex court, in its order of Jan. 2, 2017, also made a significant statement that “the Committee of Administrators shall also ensure that the directions contained in the judgement of this Court dated July 18, 2016 are fulfilled and to adopt all necessary and consequential steps for that purpose.”
After its appointment, CoA has been supervising the administration of the BCCI and also given a number of directions to facilitate the implementation of the Lodha reforms.
It has put in place the Indian Cricketers Association, recently clarified the disqualification rules, appointed the electoral officer and issued a timeline for the AGM and elections on Oct. 22, apparently after consulting the amicus curiae in the case, senior advocate P.S. Narasimha.
The CoA has also been involved in prodding the the BCCI members to get their act together in the aspect of amending its Constitution and getting it registered. So far 21 are on board.
In January 2017, the Supreme Court removed the then BCCI president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke.
The court had said that Thakur was obstructing and impeding the implementation of the cricket reforms.
Will it be smooth sailing for the CoA? While Rai is confident, a few BCCI members also believe that it’s time the elected members take charge of the BCCI. As of now, it appears that only the Supreme Court can stay the AGM/elections.
