Justice RM Lodha: Discharged BCCI's role in punishing Meiyappan, Kundra

Former CJI Justice RM Lodha said the Supreme Court committee discharged the role of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) while imposing punishment on Gurunath Meiyappan, Raj Kundra, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for the betting scam in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013. But the bigger work of the committee, also comprising former apex court judges Ashok Bhan and RV Raveendran, is yet to come.

"The reforms which we will propose will be all encompassing. But that we are examining at present. We will arrive at a conclusion only after talking to maximum number of cricketers and ex-captains and after looking into past practices," Justice Lodha told TOI.

The committee has yet another unfinished job at hand ­ to find the culpability of then IPL chief operating officer Sundar Raman. The committee said Raman's role was being investigated by its probe officer Vivek Priyadarshi, who as superintendent of police in CBI had investigated the 2G scam.

Justice Lodha said, "We, as a committee appointed by the Supreme Court, have basically discharged the job of BCCI and as the apex court had said in its January 22 judgement, our determination of punishment on the entities and personalities will be final and binding on BCCI."

Asked what could be the legal remedy for those aggrieved by the ban imposed on them, Justice Lodha said, "What legal remedies they have is for their legal advisors to decide. It is for them to take a call about the appropriate forum where they can appeal against the punishment determined by us."

The former CJI said there was huge unfinished work staring at the members of the committee. "A lot of work needs to be done on suggesting reforms ­ structural and administrative ­ for the functioning of BCCI. We have so far met 45 persons, including former captain Sourav Ganguly, on this issue," he said.

So far, the committee has met various sportspersons, cricketers, cricket administrators, former captains, state cricket association office-bearers and BCCI officials to find out what ails the administration of the richest cricketing body in the world.

"It is going to be a very wide exercise for suggesting comprehensive reforms and the main aim is to put in place reforms to make the functioning of BCCI transparent," he said.

Asked whether the committee would interact with Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble, Justice Lodha said, "I do not want to take names as it is not finalized yet by the committee. But it is for sure that we will be interacting with ex-captains, present players and cricket administrators before suggesting comprehensive changes in the management and functioning of BCCI."

He said travelling to different places and meeting cricketers at their convenience was a difficult exercise. "Most cricketers were busy during the World Cup followed by IPL. So, we were finding it difficult to meet them. Hopefully, in the next two-three months, we will be able to complete the exercise and submit a report to the Supreme Court on BCCI reforms," he said.