Supreme Court postpones BCCI-Lodha Panel order till October 17

View of Supreme Court of India in Delhi on 26 February 2014.  Manit.DNA
Supreme Court on Friday postponed BCCI-Lodha Panel order till October 17.

Internet Desk: A defiant Board of Control for Cricket in India will know its fate on October 17 as the Supreme Court has postponed the announcement of the order on the ongoing BCCI-Lodha Panel case. The postponement will give the cricket board the much needed time to plan its next step.

The apex court was supposed to pass its order today after the Board counsel declined to give an unconditional undertaking on Thursday. A three member bench led by Chief Justice TS Thakur has given an ultimatum to the Board yesterday to accept all the recommendations of the Lodha Panel or to face the consequences.

The BCCI on Thursday, faced the wrath of the apex court for its defiant attitude in implementing the directions of the Lodha committee to reform cricket in the country. The court also rebuked the cricket body for hurriedly disbursing around Rs 400 crore to state bodies.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur said that BCCI’s defiant attitude will not lead anywhere. It further emphasised that transparency, fairness, and objectivity were most important aspects in all decisions including disbursal of funds by BCCI.

The bench said that BCCI cannot pass the buck and allow state bodies to defy reforms.

The SC also barred the Board from releasing funds to 12 state associations if the Lodha committee reforms are not fully implemented by the national body. The Court ordered the 13 state bodies that did receive the funds from BCCI to not use it until they file undertakings to abide by the Lodha panel’s recommendations. The apex court has ordered the state associations to pass a resolution to implement the reforms in order to utilize the funds.

The Court further sought a personal affidavit from BCCI president Anurag Thakur on his conversation with the ICC president David Richardson on whether he asked the global body to opine whether Lodha panel’s intervention amounted to governmental interference.

The next hearing has been kept for October 17.