Supreme Court to hear Bihar cricket association's plea for implementation of Lodha panel report

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today agreed to hear the plea of Cricket Association of Bihar ( CAB) seeking implementation of the report of Justice R M Lodha panel on reforms in Board of Control for Cricket in India ( BCCI).

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India T S Thakur said that the date of hearing would be given today evening itself after the counsel for CAB mentioned the matter for urgent hearing.

The apex court-appointed Justice Lodha panel, which had suggested suspension of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two years from participating in IPL, had on January 4 submitted its report to the Supreme Court.

The three-member panel while recommending sweeping reforms in controversy-ridden BCCI had suggested a bar on ministers from occupying positions, putting a cap on the age and tenure of the office-bearers and legalising betting.

The panel had also suggested that one unit should represent one state, while taking away the voting rights of institutional and city-based units.

The committee had recommended restructuring of the BCCI's administrative set-up, proposing the position of a CEO accountable to a nine-member apex council.

Earlier, the panel had suspended star-studded Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the most successful team of IPL, and Rajasthan Royals for two years from the League in a clean up of cricket following the 2013 betting scam involving their top officials Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra.

Son-in-law of the then BCCI chief N Srinivasan, Meiyappan, a former Team Principal of India Cements Ltd (ICL)-owned franchise CSK and Kundra, co-owner of Jaipur IPL that runs Rajasthan Royals (RR), were suspended for life from any matches conducted by BCCI.