New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on cash-rich BCCI, saying the cricket body was running like a “mutually beneficial society” and “practically corrupting” its members by not seeking any explanation on how crores of rupees allotted to them were being spent. While scrutinising the fund allocation and expenses of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the apex court also pulled it up for not giving funds to neglected states for promotion of cricket and said it has done nothing to encourage the game.
It was also critical of the raw deal meted out to different states by the BCCI and said the states begged for money from the board which follows a “no questions asked” policy as a method to buy votes in a certain manner.
Lauding the work done by Justice R M Lodha-led committee for bringing out massive structural change in functioning of BCCI, the bench said “this is not an ordinary panel. It is a committee in which we have complete faith. It is committee of judges and its findings have to be relied upon. We cannot say that the findings are perverse.”
The BCCI had moved the apex court submitting that it has accepted some of the recommendations of the Lodha panel while there were difficulties in implementing others as these would have wide-ranging affect on the functioning of the board. While analysing the fund allocation in the last five years, the bench said, “Out of 29 states, 11 were going without a single penny and zero funds. You have given them nothing.
This doesn’t reflect a good future.” The bench, after perusing the affidavit filed by the BCCI detailing the records of payments made to states including Gujarat, Goa and Tripura, said the amount was several folds higher than 11 other states likes Bihar and Chhattisgarh, which go around with a “begging bowl”. “These eleven go begging for assistance. These 11 states are not paid a single penny. Why would Gujarat get over Rs 60 crore in its capacity as a full member with voting rights, while Bihar did not,” the bench said, adding “why Goa with hardly a population of over 10 lakh was getting Rs 57 crore from BCCI, while Bihar is not.”
BCCI counsel said that Bihar was an associate member and had refused to submit their audited account statement. Funds are released by the board to members depending on their cricketing activity.
