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The Supreme Court said on Friday it will soon take up the Lodha panel report on restructuring the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The panel was formed by the apex court in the wake of the 2013 IPL fixing and betting scandal that finally led to the two-year ban on Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals’>Rajasthan Royals. (Lodha Panel Recommendations Good for Cricket: Anil Kumble)
The Lodha panel submitted its final report on January 4. Among many suggestions, the three-member panel, led by former Chief Justice of India RM Lodha, recommended legalising cricket betting in the country. It also suggested structural changes to the powerful BCCI to ensure more transparency in its operation. (One State, One Association, Legalising Betting Key Recommendations in Lodha Panel Report on BCCI)
The panel’s one-state-one-association-one-vote suggestion has evoked mixed reactions but Bihar, which has been sidelined by the BCCI due to factionalism, is eager to see the implementation of the panel’s suggestion.
Over the last 12 months, Lodha and two of his colleagues interacted with 74 individuals over 35 sittings before submitting their report, which among other things recommends age and tenure restrictions for top officials.
The panel recommended cooling off period between successive terms for top officials, suggested ministers and government servants cannot occupy BCCI posts and wants professionals under a chief executive officer to run the Board’s day-to-day activity.
In other recommendations, all of which would be binding on the board if the Supreme Court deems so, the panel wanted the BCCI to be brought under the Right to Information Act which would allow citizens to access information held by the Board.
“We found that there are ailments which need cure but by providing right dose, so that the good bacteria in the body is not lost. The report that we have handed over to the court… is not to restrict or limit the good work that has been done and is being pursued by the BCCI but to remove the ailing parts,” Lodha had told the media.
Since Shashank Manohar returned for a second stint as its president in October 2015, BCCI has been striving to shed its familiar image of being a rich but non-transparent organisation run by politicians and industrialists with conflicting interests.
(With inputs from A. Vaidyanathan and Reuters)
Source: NDTV