BCCI criticized by Supreme Court as a ‘mutually beneficial society’

India’s Supreme Court has slammed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) saying that the board has created a ‘mutually beneficial society.’ The apex court was hearing the recommendations made by the Justice RM Lodha panel in the wake of the IPL 2013 spot-fixing and betting scandal. The SC told the BCCI lawyers, “Please don’t say Lodha Committee recommendations cannot be implemented.”

The SC bench also told BCCI that “out of the 29 (state) association, 11 have not received any money at all. Gujarat, in the last three years, has received Rs. 66 crore. You don’t even keep an account of the money given to various state associations. It seems in the name of cricket money is being stiphoned off. Are the state allocations made after looking at people’s face in the cricket board?”

The BCCI had submitted a detailed list of allocation of funds in the last five years to the Supreme Court, but allocation to eleven states was zero. The Justice Lodha Committee had submitted its report to the SC in January, suggesting vast changes in India’s cricket administration, including not allowing any government officials to be part of the board, legalising betting and bringing the BCCI under the ambit of Right to Information (RTI) act. Earlier in February, the apex court sought a reply from the cricket board on the implementation of the Lodha panel recommendations, giving it four weeks to file its response.

The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), which has recently been in news for many wrong reasons, had rejected almost all the recommendations of the Lodha Committee and said that it is registered under Companies Act and do not feel that there is any justification to change the system.The DDCA had turned down recommendations regarding elections and the tenure of office-bearers, and proxy voting.

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