New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the irrational method adopted by the BCCI for distribution of funds to state cricket associations.
However, senior counsel K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the BCCI, defended the funds allocation saying, “We have started activities in Union Territories to promote the game. We gave help to all affiliate and associate members apart from full members. Arunachal Pradesh and Bihar did not give audited accounts, that’s why they did not get funds from 2010.”
When Mr Venugopal voiced the Board’s objections to at least 10 recommendations of the Lodha panel like ‘one state one vote’ policy, the CJI observed, “This committee is not an ordinary one consisting of government officials for you to complain about. A former CJI headed the committee and we repose faith in their findings which are a result of extensive deliberations with a broad spectrum of people spread through a year.
Mr Venugopal submitted that the Lodha Committee neither informed nor sought the views of past or present BCCI office-bearers about its proposed recommendations despite interactions the panel had had with them. The committee never gave us an opportunity to put forward our views on the recommendations before they became part of the final report.” When senior counsel Ashok Desai objected to certain recommendations, the CJI quipped, “Justice Lodha Committee has not changed the rules of the game. It only recommends change in cricket administration.”
