CAG is Govt intrusion; Ministers are not: BCCI's comical stand in SC

In a two-hour long hearing on Thursday, where the Supreme Court ripped apart the Board of Control for Cricket in India for its objection to the recommendations made by Justice Lodha committee, the cricket governing body in the country said that if the proposal of a nominee of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is implemented, it may cause them a suspension from the International Cricket Council (ICC).

BCCI, represented by counsel KK Venugopal, argued that the ICC is against governmental interference and the appointment of a CAG nominee will be seen as a person of the government. However, the bench comprising of Chief Justice of India T S Thakur and Justice F M I Kalifulla, who were responding to BCCI’s and various state associations’ affidavits objecting to the Lodha committee report, wrong-footed the BCCI counsel when he supported the inclusion of ministers in the cricket body.

“You do not want a conscience keeper in CAG's nominee in the management, terming him to be a government nominee who could render the board liable for suspension. But you have no problem in having a minister or a bureaucrat in the management. Will this not be a ground for ICC to suspend BCCI?,” the bench said, reported the Times of India.

When KK Venugopal chose to remain silent, the bench latched on it saying, “Your silence is eloquent. Is a post in BCCI a source of aggrandizement for ministers and bureaucrats? We can understand a minister or a bureaucrat coming to us and saying they should be permitted to take part in BCCI affairs. Why should the board oppose this recommendation of Lodha panel?.”

The next hearing of the case will take place on March 18.