Fall in line or we’ll make you do it: Supreme court tells defiant BCCI

The Lodha Panel sought the removal of the top brass running the Board Of Control for Cricket In India’s (BCCI) for not implementing the reforms suggested by it.

The Supreme Court said on Wednesday it will not allow the BCCI to defy orders, reacting to a status report submitted by the RM Lodha Committee that sought the ouster of the Indian cricket board’s top brass, including president Anurag Thakur.

BCCI president Anurag Thakur at the board’s headquarters in Mumbai. The Lodha panel has sought Thakur’s removal, with the remaining top brass of the BCCI, for not complying with its recommendations.(PTI File)

The panel for cricket reforms requested the apex court to declare ineffective decisions taken by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that violates an earlier order.

In its annual general meeting on September 21, the board flouted the panel’s guidelines in several decisions, including the formation of a new cricketer selection committee.

“SC will not allow BCCI to defy court orders. We will pass appropriate orders to set you right,” Chief Justice TS Thakur told senior counsel Arvind Dattar, who represented BCCI during earlier hearings. Dattar was present in the court for another matter.

“You (BCCI) are not a law unto yourself. Fall in line otherwise we will make you fall in line,” the bench said, giving the board time till October 6 to respond to report.

Read | BCCI appoints 5-member selection panel, defies Lodha Committee recommendation

A bench headed by Thakur was hearing the matter, and became livid when told of the BCCI’s stand.

If it could defy the Supreme Court, then allegations of irregularity in the board could be true, the court said, rebuking the board.

The Lodha panel was formed by the court after the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scandal. Headed by former Chief Justice RM Lodha, the panel suggested several changes in reforming the world’s richest cricket body.

The Supreme Court approved of the recommendations on July 18, and directed the BCCI to implement them. The cricket board filed a review petition against the order, which is still under scrutiny in the top court.

The board called an emergency meeting on September 30 to discuss the implementation of the recommendations.

Lodha Committee had set the BCCI two deadlines: September 30 to make constitutional changes and December 15 to form a nine-member apex committee that will replace the working committee.

Read | BCCI files plea against Lodha recommendations, says CJI is ‘prejudiced’