SC puts BCCI in its place : The Tribune India

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SC puts BCCI in its place

BCCI and most state associations are incorrigible. Just after the Delhi association (DDCA) showed contempt for the Supreme Court-mandated reforms, BCCI today found itself being berated by the Supreme Court for the delay in implementing the Lodha Committee recommendations.

SC puts BCCI in its place


By Bishan Singh Bedi

BCCI and most state associations are incorrigible. Just after the Delhi association (DDCA) showed contempt for the Supreme Court-mandated reforms, BCCI today found itself being berated by the Supreme Court for the delay in implementing the Lodha Committee recommendations. The three top interim office-bearers of BCCI were ticked off openly in the court for saying one thing to the Committee of Administrators (CoA) and Supreme Court, and doing absolutely the opposite. The court warned the officials of serious consequences for their defiance, and asked three office-bearers — Amitabh Choudhary, Anirudh Chaudhry and CK Khanna — to personally appear again before the court on October 30. In the next hearing, the BCCI officials will be expected to give suggestions to CoA on the new constitution.

The Supreme Court-appointed CoA had been tasked with preparing a draft of the new BCCI constitution, as per the Lodha Committee recommendations. In its last status report, CoA had observed that the BCCI office-bearers were brazenly flouting CoA’s directions.

BCCI had been opposing three main proposals on membership, balance of power between elected office-bearers and professional appointees like the CEO, and tenure and cooling-off period. The draft constitution reportedly has space for one representative per state with voting rights, and has identified 30 states.

DDCA defiance

In this light, the voting in DDCA on September 15 on the Lodha Committee recommendations was being keenly watched. The DDCA members did nothing to improve their awful reputation, and 77 out of 103 recommendations were rejected. Needless to say, the reforms relating to proxy voting and age and tenure restrictions were summarily rejected.

These two reforms are most critical in DDCA. Most office-bearers including BCCI’s current interim president, CK Khanna, are afflicted by the ‘perpetual occupancy’ syndrome. Most of these office-bearers came 35-40 years ago and have made DDCA their home, and have also brought in their cronies. Proxy-voting, as allowed under the Companies Act, is used as a tool to perpetuate control. It works like this: A handful of people collect signed proxies of voters within a few hours of being dispatched by DDCA, and fill up the names of contestants and deposit the same at the time of voting.

Most of these members have been made by the two main contestants over the last 35 years. DDCA has not had a qualification system of credible standing in society and interview, as is prevalent in reputable clubs. Then, the subscription for ordinary members is kept as low as Rs 900 per annum, and the office-bearers themselves pay this subscription for a sizeable number of members, who in turn oblige their patrons by handing over their proxies during elections. Match passes and other goodies like mementos are enough to get the loyalty of many members.

Membership of state associations is a strict family-friends affair. In Delhi, 4,300 members have made from personal circles of the office-bearers. Punjab recently published a list of 182 members consisting mainly of relatives and friends of long-standing office-bearers. Same is the case in Haryana, J&K and Himachal Pradesh.

All hail Supreme power!

After BCCI and state units rejected the key reforms, there was a case for shoving the reforms down their throats. This is precisely what the Supreme Court has done. It is heartening to learn that the Supreme Court has asked CoA to bring in the desired constitution in line with most of the Lodha Committee recommendations. Enough is enough — that is the sum and substance of today’s hearing in the Supreme Court. We need to hail the top court.

The writer is a former India captain

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