Supreme Court Notice To Centre On PIL Demanding Lodha Panel Reforms Be Followed By All Sports Bodies

The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Centre on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which wants that all National Sports Federations (NSFs) must follow the Justice Lodha Panel recommendations. The petitioner had argued that all sports federations are mismanaged and they must be reformed like the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and wanted the Lodha Panel recommendations to be followed by all of them. The Supreme Court has tagged this case with the BCCI case.

The top court had on Friday clarified that the tenure of cricket administrators would be nine years each in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and their respective state associations, and not a cumulative total of nine years.
 
The nine-year figure had been put up by the Lodha Committee in the answers to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on their website, in a statement that is likely to give a new lease of life to many cricket administrators who were otherwise deemed not be eligible for any posts.
 
"Tenure of an office-bearer in state association or BCCI shall not be considered cumulatively," Supreme Court said in its clarification.
 
The Lodha Committee had stated that any official who had held office in either the BCCI or a state association for a total of nine years would be disqualified from holding any post in either.
 
Several senior BCCI officials had welcomed the Supreme Court's verdict, which gave a new lease of life to the administrative careers of many officials, including Dilip Vengsarkar, who said that he now has the opportunity to be in the BCCI once he is through with his cooling off period.
 
(With inputs from A. Vaidyanathan and PTI)