The Board of Control for Cricket in India has strongly opposed most of the recommendations of Justice R.M. Lodha committee in the Supreme Court on the ground that they are impractical and cannot be implemented.
A bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice Ibrahim Kalifulla will hear all petitions and appeals connected with the Lodha report on Thursday.
In its affidavit filed on Wednesday, the BCCI opposed the audit of its account by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, restricting the age of officer bearers to 70 years and bar on ministers/government servants from holding board posts.
The board said that keeping ministers and government servants out of membership in any association was “constitutionally impermissible” and cited certain apex court rulings to buttress the argument.
Quoting Rule 2.9 of the International Cricket Council, the board pointed out that if the CAG was allowed to audit its account, the board stood the prospect of being dismembered or suspended from the ICC.
According to the BCCI the ICC rules mandates that there shall be not any governmental interference in “operational matters” particularly relating to selection/management of teams, appointment of coaches, etc.
The board also opposed the idea of the committee to restrict advertisements on TV, saying it would drastically curtail revenue.
According to the BCCI, implementation of the suggestion to reduce advertisements during matches would mean it would have to revise all existing and future contracts which are already entered resulting in serious legal complication; besides causing huge loss to the board which was solely dependent on such revenue for its functioning and conduct of games throughout the country.
During the last hearing, the Bench had make it clear that the BCCI should accept the panel’s report in toto.
The BCCI said it has appointed an obudsman, amended rules and regulations to deal with conflict of interest, indiscipline, misconduct, violations of rules and regulations of BCCI by any administrator. Several persons had resigned from positions on account of conflict of interest.
It had accepted recommendations to professionalise management and introduce a two-tier structure. A head hunting agency has been appointed for the purpose of identifying candidates for appointment as CEO and CFO. BCCI rules and regulations had been amended to empower the BCCI to appoint an independent auditor to scrutinise the statements of accounts of members with regard to payments made by the board to such members.
