Odisha cricket body moves SC on Lodha panel report

The Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court seeking to be impleaded in the ongoing hearing on the implementation of Justice R.M. Lodha Committee recommendations for the "structural reforms" of the apex Indian cricket board.

In a mentioning before the apex court bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, counsel for the OCA told the court that it wants to be impleaded in the hearing as there are serious problems in implementing Justice Lodha Committee recommendations as these would have a bearing on the entire organisational set-up of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The court allowed the Odisha unit to file its application for intervention.

On February 4, the apex court asked the BCCI to accept in "toto" the recommendation of the Justice Lodha Committee on the structural reforms of the apex cricketing board.

Impressing upon the BCCI the significance of the report, the court had said, "The report deserves respect as it is given by the most competent and well-meaning members of the legal fraternity."

The apex court-appointed Justice R.M. Lodha Committee made a host of far-reaching recommendations for improvement of the cricket administration in the country, including limiting the term for the BCCI office bearers with cooling off period and separate governing bodies for the BCCI and the Indian Premier League (IPL).

It also recommended bringing the BCCI under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, legalisation of betting, uniformity in structure of state associations, and a one-state-one-member (vote) pattern for the BCCI governing body.

The matter is likely to come up for further hearing on March 3.

The apex court is hearing a plea by the Cricket Association of Bihar on the implementation of Justice Lodha Committee recommendations.