BCCI may appoint C.K. Khanna as its next president

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Jan. 5 (ANI): The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly considering to appoint C.K. Khanna as its new president. However, if the decision is taken forward, it would ignore the fact that Khanna is ineligible on tenure count because of having served more than nine cumulative years in state cricket association. Earlier, the Supreme Court after removing Anurag Thakur from the post of BCCI president, had entrusted the senior-most vice-president of the BCCI, Khanna, to run its affairs. However, the observer for Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) Retired Justice Mukul Mudgal, in a scathing report submitted to Delhi High Court, termed Khanna as a "pernicious influence". Anurag Thakur and BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke were removed from their respective posts for their failure to bring transparency and accountability to the Indian cricket board and their non-compliance of the court's July 18 last year order. A three-member bench headed by former chief justice T. S. Thakur had also said that the working of BCCI will be looked after by a committee of administrators and requested Fali Nariman and senior advocate Gopal Subramanian, who was assisting in the matter as amicus curiae, to assist the court in nominating persons of impeccable integrity as the members in the committee of administrators. On December 15, the top court had observed that Thakur prima facie appears to have committed matter of perjury in relation to demanding an intervention via a letter from the International Cricket Council (ICC) in order to sidestep the implementation of the Lodha Committee recommendations. On October 1, the board had accepted many of the "significant recommendations" of the Lodha Committee, but excluded the important ones which have been a bone of contention between the cricket body and the Lodha Panel. Earlier, in a landmark judgment on July 18, the apex court accepted major recommendations of Justice Lodha-led panel on structural reforms in the BCCI and had given six months deadline to the board to implement the recommendations. The recommendations, which have still not been accepted by the 30-member committee, include one-state one-vote, age limit of 70 years, cooling-off period of three years which included the tenure of the administrators, continue with the five-selectors and retaining the powers of the president and secretary as per the earlier constitution of the board. (ANI)