Lodha committee report: SC may have final say as BCCI feels its not binding

New Delhi: Supreme Court-appointed Lodha committee's report, due for final submission on Monday, is likely to change the way BCCI functions going forward.

But according to a report in the Times of India, the Indian board believes there is nothing to worry as cricket's clean up mission takes shape.

“The recommendations are clearly not binding on the BCCI. It's a tool that critics may use for the next 10 years to point out any transgression whatsoever, which is unavoidable if you're running such a huge sports body . It is a governance model and only recommendatory," a top BCCI lawyer told TOI on Friday .

However, there is an alternate view that suggests the three-member panel's report would be binding on world's richest cricket body.

"If this report isn't binding on the BCCI, why was the earlier report when Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were suspended ­ acted upon with such urgency? Anyway, the (Lodha) committee is not submitting the report to BCCI. It will be tabled in front of the Supreme Court which has appointed this committee. If the BCCI wants to accept or not accept its recommendations, can only be debated there (in the SC)," said the source.

The radical proposals likely to be made by the Lodha committee could ruffle some feathers in the BCCI.

"The (BCCI's) legal committee will first study the report and suggest its set of recommendations to the BCCI. After that, it will be for the board members ­ all associations and stakeholders ­ to take a call," said a BCCI official.

"Manohar will be at the forefront of those decisions and chances are that going into the future, his administrative abilities will always be judged on the basis of what the BCCI does with the recommendations," he further added.

The BCCI president has made all the right noises so far during his second stint. If any cricket administrator has the will to implement the committee suggestions in toto, it is Manohar.

However, there will be some opposition to the proposals, which could make Manohar's job that much harder.

"There'll certainly be resistance to the recommendations. Not just externally, but even internally once the board's legal committee studies it. Nobody's denying there are individuals with vested interests. Removing the zonal rotation for electing the president, bringing in neutral members in its governance, keeping politicians away... these are going to be very tough calls. Let's see how it plays out," a senior BCCI official said.

January 4 could mark an important day in the history of Indian cricket. Whether the board accepts and works on the committee proposals or opts to scuttle them using legal technicalities remains to be seen.