New Delhi: In what came as a big blow to the Indian cricket board, Supreme Court on Monday removed Anurag Thakur from the post of BCCI president. The apex court, which was hearing perjury charges levelled against Thakur by Amicus Curiae Gopal Subramaniam, also removed BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke.
Supreme Court asked, “Why prosecution should not be initiated against him"? and also sought a reply from Thakur in this regard.
The next date of hearing in the matter is January 19th.
SC said as per July 18, 2016 order, Thakur and Shirke did not comply with its order and thereby been removed.
SC also said that the BCCI and state board officials failed to implement its orders to bring transparency and accountability in cricket body.
SC also appointed Fali Nariman and senior SC lawyer Gopal Subramanium as Amicus Curiae to find out who would be the BCCI officials.
The apex court pronounced its crucial order regarding Justice (Retired) RM Lodha-led committee's recommendations and the BCCI's constant reluctance to accept them.
On December 15 last year, the top court had observed Thakur prima facie appears to have committed matter of perjury in relation to demanding an intervention via a letter from the International Cricket Council (ICC) in order to sidestep the implementation of the Lodha committee recommendations.
The apex court, which was hearing the Lodha panel's third status report that asked for the removal of top brass of the BCCI, also asked the Amicus Curiae whether Thakur committed perjury or not in the case.
In reply, the Amicus Curiae revealed that the BCCI chief, in his affidavit submitted to the top court, had said that he sought Shashank Manohar's opinion as the BCCI chairman, which was denied by the latter saying that it was asked in the ICC meeting.
It should be noted that if Thakur is found to have committed perjury then he might land in jail.
The three-member apex court-bench, headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur, also asked the country's cricket board to suggest if there is any name for post of administrator and also granted them one-week time for the same.
Meanwhile, the top court also reserved order on replacing BCCI top brass with a panel of administrators.
On October 1, the board had accepted many of the "significant recommendations" of the Lodha Committee, but excluded the important ones which have been a bone of contention between the cricket body and the Lodha Panel.
The recommendations, which have still not been accepted by the 30-member committee, include one-state one-vote, age limit of 70 years, cooling-off period of three years which included the tenure of the administrators, continue with the five-selectors and retaining the powers of the president and secretary as per the earlier constitution of the board.
