The Supreme Court appointed Justice Lodha panel today declined the request of the Indian cricket board to defer the scheduled meeting tomorrow on implementation of reforms within the next six months.
The request came a day after the BCCI’s newly appointed legal advisor, Justice Markandey Katju, told BCCI to file a review petition against the apex court verdict to a bigger bench and not meet the committee, terming the recommended reforms “null and void”.
“Ajay Shirke (BCCI Secretary) finally wrote to the Committee late last night requesting that the meeting on Tuesday with him and Anurag Thakur be deferred. The request has been declined,” a source close to the panel told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
It is learnt that both Thakur and Shirke may face Contempt of Court if they don’t meet the panel tomorrow at the proposed time of 11 am.
A senior BCCI official said the move was a deliberate delaying tactic which the BCCI wanted to employ with the aim of getting a stay order on the July 18 verdict passed by the two-member bench comprising CJI TS Thakur and Justice FMI Khallifullah.
“The board could not have got a stay order before 11 am on Tuesday, which is the scheduled time for Thakur and Shirke to meet panel members. A delay would have enabled the BCCI lawyers to file a review petition and seek a stay on verdict. But after Justice Katju’s attack, we know that bridges have been burnt,” the senior official said.
Justice Katju, who had prepared an interim report, termed the Supreme Court verdict and appointment of the Lodha panel as “unconstitutional and illegal”.
He also criticised the apex court, saying that it is not the judiciary but the legislature’s prerogative to make laws.
He said the apex court cannot “outsource” (Lodha panel) a body to give punishment to BCCI.