Supreme Court chokes BCCI funds, asks panel to audit its deals

The Supreme Court has choked the Indian cricket board’s funds to state associations and brought its transactions running into hundreds of millions of dollars under scrutiny, the latest in a series of restrictions imposed to pressure the cash-rich body into accepting reforms.

The court on Friday barred the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from giving funds to its facilities in states, and ordered that an independent auditor would scrutinise its accounts, besides overseeing and fixing a ceiling for contracts and rights.

The cricket board’s bitter standoff with the judiciary threatens to impact the way India’s most popular sport is run as the Indian Premier League (IPL) involves high-value contracts and media rights. The court has accused the cricket board of stalling and cherry-picking sweeping reforms suggested by the top court-appointed Justice R.M. Lodha panel.

BCCI president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke have been told to commit in two weeks that the reforms - endorsed by the top court in July - would be implemented. The two were also told to appear before the Lodha panel to explain the manner of compliance.

Funds to state associations would remain frozen till the reforms - designed to bring in transparency and accountability in the cricket board largely run by businessmen and politicians - are accepted.

Mr Thakur will personally appear when the matter is heard next on December 5, the court said in its 21-page order. The BCCI chief said the cricket board would abide by the apex court’s ruling. “What impact it will have on cricket, we cannot comment before going through the order,” he said.

A bench headed by Chief Justice T.S. Thakur said the Lodha panel would apprise International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Shashank Manohar of its order. The court rapped the BCCI chief for seeking a “clarification” from the ICC whether the appointment of the Lodha pane; was government interference in the working of the cricket board.

The court had formed the Lodha committee in January last year, later endorsed most of the recommendations and asked the cricket board to implement them. But BCCI refused to accept some of the suggestions, including age and tenure restrictions for top officials as well as banning them from serving successive terms, a one-state one-vote policy and a 15-day window before and after the IPL.

Justice Lodha said on Friday that the Supreme Court has done its best to get the BCCI to implement the panel’s recommendations. “If he (Thakur) comes, we will definitely interact with him. As a matter of fact we had invited him on August 9 but he did not come,” he said.