The Supreme Court has become proactive with its rulings stretching from politics to cricket. The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) is the richest cricketing board in the world but has been the target of a spate of criticism from time to time. The Justice R M Lodha report made some welcome recommendations to change the face of cricket in the country. The BCCI had treated the Lodha report as a set of recommendations which were not binding. But the apex court has now asked it to implement the recommendations within 6 months. Cricket lovers in India will welcome the SC ruling. The BCCI will have to retire officials above 70. More former players will have greater saying in decision making. Besides, the Northeast will be better represented in national cricket. Of course that should be dictated by ability and not by regionalism. The BCCI will have some outsiders with penal powers enjoying high-sounding designations like ethic officers, the CAG nominee and ombudsman. The all-powerful ombudsman will be a retired judge. In these days, however, judicial impartiality may not be taken for granted. How will the ombudsman be selected?
While the SC does not aim to curtail the BCCI’s autonomy but it holds that it is amenable to writ petitions as it discharges public functions. That cuts across the BCCI’s constitutional protection. Its efforts to hold its own have failed. Cricket is a passion in India with proliferating corporate sponsorships. India is now more of a global cricketing hub than even England where the game was born. The Lodha recommendations will no doubt put a new spin in governing by the BCCI.
