The bravado shown by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) especially its young and ebullient chief Anurag Thakur in defying and challenging the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha committee has been soundly rebuffed by the apex court. By freezing all financial transactions between the BCCI and state cricket associations through directions to the BCCI not to disburse any funds until these associations undertake to abide by the Justice R M Lodha panel recommendations on reforms, the apex court has indeed hit at the very roots of BCCI’s arrogance and pretensions to be supreme in cricketing matters. While the BCCI bigwigs have been directed to give an undertaking on affidavit as to how much time they would require to implement reforms, the Supreme Court bench has told the Lodha panel to appoint independent auditors to scrutinise all BCCI accounts. Shorn of financial powers, the BCCI would be a pale shadow of what it used to be. The Supreme Court has indeed ensured that it would have the last laugh in the battle of wits with the cricketing body. The Supreme Court had appointed the Lodha panel in the wake of serious allegations of deep-rooted bungling in the accounts of the BCCI over the years and allegations of match-fixing. The BCCI indeed has to pay a price for its being a law unto itself under erstwhile high-profile figures like Sharad Pawar, N Srinivasan and late Jagmohan Dalmiya who ruled the roost for many years with appalling lack of accountability in the name of autonomy.
The court had also asked BCCI president Anurag Thakur and its General Manager (Cricket Operation) Ratnakar Shetty to explain the allegation that ICC CEO Dave Richardson was asked by BCCI to issue a letter that Lodha panel’s directions tantamount to government interference. The bench had noted that Shetty in his affidavit had said that no letter was sought from the ICC CEO as was alleged but is Ratnakar Shetty’s claim the last word on this?
That the BCCI needed to be brought to accepting its accountability is beyond question. But in doing so, is the court not going to the other extreme in doubting the bonafides of the board and expecting it to clear every financial decision with the auditors. If future matches with the touring New Zealand team and in the subsequent tour by England are cancelled due to lack of financial sanction, would the apex court take responsibility for it? While propriety and due diligence need to be exercised in financial dealings of the BCCI, it would be a tragedy if the cricket-obsessed spectators do not get their due in a rare sport that has captured their love. Is it okay to throw the baby out with the bathwater?
