Panel led by ex-CAG Vinod Rai to run BCCI

Rai said he's a 'night-watchman' whose job will be to ensure a smooth transition to an elected body

After nearly a fortnight of uncertainty, the Supreme Court on Monday appointed four administrators to run the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). 

The panel headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), and the current Chairman of Banks Board Bureau, Vinod Rai would have historian Ramachandra Guha, IDFC Managing Director Vikram Limaye and former woman cricketer Diana Edulji.

The names were selected after the initial list presented by lawyers Anil Divan and Gopal Subramaniam was rejected on January 20 by the SC. The nine names on that list were all over 70 years, going against the recommendations of the R M Lodha panel, the court had said.

The apex court had set up a panel under former chief justice Lodha to suggest changes in cricket administration. 

BCCI Chief Executive Officer Rahul Johri, who was reporting directly to the Lodha panel, has now been asked to report to the panel of administrators.

The SC’s selection, said sports commentators and experts, has attempted to strike a balance between cricketing and administrative acumen, required to run one of country’s apex sports bodies. The BCCI had in recent years been mired in controversy, especially around its cash-rich property the Indian Premier League (IPL). 

Rai, whose name was contested in the past by BCCI, is expected to bring his prowess of studying financial accounts. The same goes for Limaye, banker and a cricket enthusiast. Guha is a cricket historian, while Edulji is a former cricketer, sector experts said. 

Limaye will also represent the BCCI in the International Cricket Council meeting to be held on February 2, along with BCCI Joint Secretary Amitabh Choudhary and Treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry, the SC said.

On Monday, the apex court declined Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi’s request to appoint the secretary of the sports ministry as an administrator. It cited its earlier judgment debarring ministers and government servants from holding office in the BCCI. 

The court had rejected the arguments of the BCCI and the government that their representatives must also find a place in the committee. However, the court went by the names suggested by the amicus curiae to assist it in the matter. The names were given earlier in a sealed cover and the court selected the names on Monday.

Significantly, there is no term limit for the interim BCCI panel put in place on Monday, indicating that the four-member committee might continue well beyond six months, initially said to be the tenure of the panel. The committee will study the Lodha panel reforms implemented by the BCCI so far and will report on what needs to be done, the court said. 

The four-member committee is also expected to finalise the schedule for the tenth edition of the IPL, left hanging after former BCCI president and secretary Anurag Thakur and Ajay Shirke were sacked from their positions on January 3. 

Rai, a PTI report said, called himself a “night-watchman” whose only job will be to ensure a “smooth transition” to an elected body in the BCCI. “It’s too early to comment on anything at the moment because I am not familiar and have no exposure to the functions of BCCI. But any institution must conform to good governance. The game of cricket requires good governance so that we are able to deliver to the country at the public at large.” 

The Supreme Court had subsequently modified the January 2 order saying office-bearers who had cumulatively spent nine years at BCCI and state cricket boards would not be debarred from holding any position. But it was unclear whether Thakur and Shirke would return to the body.

BCCI counsel Kapil Sibal reiterated the argument that the Lodha committee recommendations were impossible to be implemented because of several flaws. The government also had serious objections to the court appointing a committee. 

However, the court took the first step by appointing the committee and adjourned the hearing till mid-March to get the report of the committee on the implementation of the suggestions. The objections of BCCI and the government will be heard thereafter.

The gentleman’s game gets new openers
 

Vinod Rai, 68: Former CAG & current BBB Chairman Rai will bring his financial acumen to the table; he is expected to scrutinise the body's financial dealings carefully to weed out corruption

Vikram Limaye, 50: Banker and MD of IDFC is a financial wizard besides being a cricket enthusiast. He is expected to bring his passion for numbers as well as the sport to the table




 

Ramachandra Guha, 58: A cricket historian and author of A Corner of a Foreign Field: An Indian History of A British Sport




 

 

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Diana Edulji

, 61: A former cricketer and captain of the Indian women's cricket team; she is the only sportsperson on the panel