Justice RM Lodha Committee submitted its report to Supreme Court

Justice RM Lodha Committee on IPL spot fixing on 4 January 2015 submitted its report to the Supreme Court suggesting reforms in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The panel has recommended separate governing bodies for IPL and BCCI, with limited autonomy for the IPL Governing Council. It has also recommended legalising betting.

Key Recommendations Proposed
• It proposed that no Minister or government servant should become a BCCI office-bearer.
• It suggested that the BCCI office-bearer's term should not exceed more than two consecutive terms.
• It suggests that any BCCI office-bearer cannot hold two posts at the same time.
• It proposed the constitution and establishment of a players' association.
• It asks for restructuring of the BCCI constitution.
• It says that one association from each state should be a member of the BCCI.
• At present BCCI have 34 members of which few are inactive ones like Railways and Services. It recommended relegation of Railways, Services and other members who don't have competitive presence, to affiliate status without voting rights.
• For the creation of the players' association, it suggests for a steering committee headed by former Home Secretary G K Pillai with Mohinder Amarnath, Diana Eduljee and Anil Kumble as members.
• It suggests that the day to day management of the BCCI should be conducted by a CEO, who should be assisted by six professional managers. They will be responsible to an apex council.
• It suggests that the apex council of the BCCI should constitute of 9 members of whom 5 will be elected, 2 will be representatives of the players' association, and one will be a woman.

Creation of 3 Committees for smooth functioning of BCCI
It recommended the creation of three other authorities for the smooth functioning of the BCCI. These are
Ombudsman: It suggests creation of an ombudsman who should be a judge of the Supreme Court or a retired judge of a High Court. The ombudsman will preside over the internal disputes resolution mechanism, disputes between BCCI and members, BCCI and associates, breaches by administrators, players, team officials etc. He/she will have an additional role - handling grievances concerning access to stadia, manipulation in ticket distribution etc.
Ethics Officer: It suggested for creation of a second authority as an ethics officer who would be a former high court judge. He/she will administer the issues relating to the conflict of interest, misdemeanour, misbehaviour or corruption issues.
Electoral Officer: It also suggested creation of third authority in form of an electoral officer who should be nominated at least 2 weeks before the election. He/she will be a former election commissioner of India and will oversee the entire BCCI election process relating to the office bearers, namely preparation of voters list, publication, disputes over eligibility of the office bearers etc.

Eligibility criteria for BCCI office bearers
The committee has also suggested certain eligibility criteria for important BCCI office bearers like the President, Vice President, secretary, joint secretary and treasurer. The criteria include
a) He/she should not be more than 70 years in age.
b) Should not being insolvent, not holding any post in the government (whether that of a minister or a government servant).
c) He also must not have held office in BCCI for the last nine years.
d) Each office bearer will have a tenure of three years, and no office bearer can hold the office for more than three terms - with the rider that there will be a 'cooling off period' after each term.
• It suggested that each of the selection committee would comprise three members and the members of the senior selection committee can only be those who have played international Test matches. The one with most Test caps would be chairman.
• It recommended formation of a talent spotting committee comprising three members, who would be appointed at the AGM.

Recommendations in relation to IPL
• The chief governing body will be known as the governing council, which will comprise nine members.
a) The secretary and the treasurer of the BCCI will be ex-officio members of this IPL governing council.
b) Two other members of the IPL governing council will be nominated or elected by the full members.
c) Of the remaining five, two will be the nominees of franchises; one will be a representative of the players association and one will a nominee of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India's office.
d) As of now though, there is no IPL players' association in place, and Lodha has recommended its creation.
e) The governing council of the IPL should take all decisions regarding the IPL, which will include the financial decisions.
f) The governing council will also be answerable to the general body of the BCCI.

Recommendations in regard to the structure and constitution of state associations
• The associations must not have office for life or office for more than nine years.
• It called for separation of social and cricket activities in the state associations, with no proxy voting. Their accounts must be audited by the BCCI to maintain transparency in functioning.
• They must comply with all the directives of the BCCI in putting in place issues such as resolution of conflict of interest, administering the code of conduct, behaviour, corruption issues etc.
• Any breach of the directives by state associations would disentitle them from the grant of the subsidy and other grants from the BCCI.
• Moreover, the distribution of subsidy and grants from the BCCI would depend on the infrastructure and development of the game by the state association.
• The state associations will have to make all decisions public on their website.
• The state associations should comprise only of ex-cricketers, and no politicians. They must also follow a proper stadium rotation policy.
The committee was appointed by the apex court in 2015 to make recommendations to the BCCI in order to prevent frauds and conflict of interest in cricket administration.

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