Former CAG Vinod Rai to head BCCI

Former CAG Vinod Rai to head BCCI

Vinod Rai

NEW DELHI: In yet another development relating to the embattled Board of Control for Cricket in India, the Supreme Court of India appointed former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai to head the apex cricketing body.

Noted historian and writer on cricket Ramachandra Guha, former Indian cricketer Diana Edulji and Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation official Vikram Limaye were appointed members.

Declining the Government’s request to appoint Sports Ministry Secretary as the member of the committee, the Court referred to its earlier judgment barring ministers and government servants from holding office in BCCI.

The apex court said Amitabh Chaudhary, Anirudh Chaudhary of BCCI and Vikram Limaye will represent BCCI at the International Cricket Council meeting in the first week of February.

The court had on 24 January 2017 rejected all nine names submitted by the BCCI counsel, but granted senior lawyer Kapil Sibal permission to provide suggestions for an interim panel to run Indian cricket.

On 20 January, the centre moved the Court against the implementation of the Lodha Committee recommendations on behalf of the Railway Sports Promotion Board, Services Sports Control Board and All India Universities - three sporting bodies that held full membership of the BCCI earlier but now stand relegated to associate member status without voting rights as per the Lodha panel's "one state-one vote" recommendation.

The court had also said any individual over the age of 70 will not be appointed as BCCI administrators.

After removing Anurag Thakur as BCCI president and disqualifying all the board and its state association office bearers who had failed to meet the new norms set by the Justice Lodha Committee, the Court had on 2 January said cricket administrators would be allowed to hold office for a cumulative period of nine years, inclusive of the time they hold office in their respective state associations as well as the BCCI. But in view of the 18 July last year order which stated that the cumulative tenure would be limited to nine plus nine years (nine years within the BCCI and nine in state associations), the Court had last week offered to clarify and set the ineligibility clause as "an office-bearer of the BCCI for nine years or a State Association for the same period".