BCCI hearing put off until October 17

The Supreme Court has put off passing the order concerning the BCCI's implementation of the Lodha Committee recommendations until its next working day, which is October 17 because the court breaks for Dussehra holidays for a week.

The court had initially given the board one day to provide an undertaking that it would accept the recommendations "unconditionally" by October 7, but the delay was because the entire three-judge bench that had been hearing the matter was not available after lunch on Friday. The matter had been listed for the "end of board", which meant it would be heard after all other cases listed for the day, but in the end that wasn't possible.

However, the Chief Justice of India TS Thakur said in court that the BCCI president Anurag Thakur must file a personal affidavit to respond to whether he had approached the ICC asking for a letter that may have aided the board in not implementing the Lodha Committee's recommendations.

Chief Justice TS Thakur was referencing a story in India Today on September 12 that quoted ICC chief executive David Richardson as saying that approached the ICC asking" target="_blank">Anurag Thakur had asked the ICC to address a letter to the BCCI, asking it to clarify whether the recommendations of the Lodha Committee did not amount to government interference in the board's running. As per ICC regulations, member boards cannot have government interference in their running. ICC chairman Shashank Manohar, Richardson said, had been reluctant to get involved in the matter unless "formally" requested to.

The court also said that whatever amounts had been given by the BCCI to certain state associations after the board's annual general meeting on September 21 would go into a fixed term deposit, and would be released only after those state associations provided the court with a resolution that they were adopting the Lodha Committee's recommendations.

A BCCI official ESPNcricinfo spoke to said the board would continue to stick to its stance that it will not give the undertaking asked by the court to "unconditionally" implement the recommendations and timelines of the Lodha Committee. When asked whether the postponement to October 17 would give the BCCI time to reach out to the state associations and get their opinion, the official said the absence of the top brass of the board would be a hurdle.

The official said both BCCI president Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke would be in Cape Town from this weekend to attend the ICC board meetings between October 10 and 14. They would return by October 16.