Supreme Court appoints Committee of Administrators headed by Vinod Rai to run BCCI

The Supreme Court (SC) on 30 January 2017 appointed former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai as the head of four-member Committee of Administrators to run Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The other three members of the Committee are noted historian Ramachandra Guha, former Indian women’s cricket team captain Diana Edulji and IDFC Limited’s Managing Director Vikram Limaye.

Rai, Guha, Edulji and Limaye will function as the interim bosses of the BCCI and run its day-to-day administration until the Lodha Committee reforms are fully implemented and elections are held.

The order was given by a three-judge Bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra. The other two judges were Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud.

Key highlights of the SC order

• The Bench rejected the suggestion of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to appoint Secretary of Union Sports Ministry as one of the administrators.

• The Bench states that its 18 July 2016 judgement had specifically debarred ministers and government servants from holding any office in the BCCI.

• It also ordered that the BCCI CEO would report to the Committee. Also, the CEO, with the assistance of the counsel of the Board, would apprise the administrators about the implementation of the Lodha panel recommendations accepted by the top court.

• The apex court gave four weeks time to the Committee to submit the report about the recommendations for reforms in the cricket body complied with by BCCI.

Background

The Supreme Court on 2 December 2016 had sacked Anurag Thakur, President of BCCI, and Ajay Shirke, BCCI Secretary, from their posts. The apex court stated that the duo had not complied with its 18 July 2016 order and therefore were removed from the post. The top court, in its order, had indicated that it would soon appoint a panel of administrators to carry out the reforms in the Board to make its affairs transparent.