Ball is with the top court

The reformation of the BCCI is in the hands of the Supreme Court. Its notice to former president N. Srinivasan and former vice-president Niranjan Shah to explain their presence at the most recent special general meeting is clear indication that if they are left to their own devices, such officials will only attempt to perpetuate themselves in “honorary” posts. Their open defiance of the court’s directions is a sign they are willing to be in contempt while disrupting the best laid plans of the top court and the Lodha panel to institute reforms in the administration of the cash-rich national game. The case may be argued forever by employing expensive lawyers, but that’s at the BCCI’s expense. Where the top court may have to take a call is not on the structure of the reforms it’s trying to impose as much as removing the obstructionism that amounts to mocking the authority of the court.

The maze of corruption veteran administrators have created in order to curry favour with their colleagues is at the heart of this illogical faith in one or two head honchos to keep guiding the affairs of BCCI. Huge sponsorship deals that have come in, like the Team India title rights which were sold at a 455 per cent premium over the old contract, when such matters are being dealt with by the court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) is testament to what transparency in governance can do. There is no logical reason why most reforms, as suggested by the Lodha Committee, should not be implemented. The good of the game lies in rooting out officials who have brought disrepute to the game by allowing corruption and criminal elements. Supreme Court alone can bring about an end to the endless scheming of Mr Srinivasan & Co.