Clean up cricket

The power structures of the Indian cricket board (BCCI) were founded by the country's princely class in pre-Independence India. In cricket, their greatest motivation was to ingratiate themselves with the British rulers, and to promote and perpetuate their own interests. The princes and potentates faded away after Independence, and their place was taken by our modern princes - politicians and businessmen - but the BCCI’s edifice has remained fundamentally unchanged. In this backdrop, it’s natural that the officials in the BCCI and the state associations affiliated with it would resist the attempts made by the Supreme Court to clean up the country’s cricket administration.

Over the last few weeks, various state associations have rejected most of the recommendations of the Lodha Committee, which was appointed by the Supreme Court to help cleanse cricket. The Lodha Committee’s recommendations are designed to introduce good corporate practices into the BCCI — chief among these are an attempt to stamp out conflict-of-interest situations, and restrictions on the length and number of tenures of officials. Another crucial recommendation was that ministers and bureaucrats should not be allowed to hold positions in the BCCI or the state associations. If the Lodha Committee recommendations are implemented, most of the top cricket administrators of the country would have to move out. All of them are very powerful and rich men — they’re not going to go away without a fight. Various officials have been promoting the view that the Lodha Committee recommendations may not be binding on the BCCI, or that some recommendations are unconstitutional, impractical or too idealistic. 

The Supreme Court is aware that the BCCI’s powerful officials are reluctant to move on. This is the reason a Supreme Court Bench — which included the Chief Justice of India — has made very strong remarks in favour of the Lodha Committee’s report and recommendations. “These recommendations deserve respect. They have come from the most illuminated and respected members of the legal community,” the Bench noted. “The best thing is to fall in line and follow the suggestions to save the trouble.” BCCI president Shashank Manohar, himself an eminent lawyer, has the onus of acting in letter and spirit on the Lodha report.