The Supreme Court on Wednesday stated that the three-member panel of Vikram Limaye, Amitabh Choudhary and Anirudh Chowdhury 'enjoy the same status' and will represent the Board of Control for Cricket in India at the International Cricket Council's meeting, starting in Dubai, on Thursday.
A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said this after it was informed in the morning by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) that the Committee of Administrators (COA) has asked only Limaye to attend the ICC meeting and had dropped the names of Amitabh Chaudhary and Anirudh Chaudhary.
"We make it clear that all three members enjoy the same status and BCCI should convey to ICC that they will attend the meeting," the bench said after it took up the matter at 2 pm.
Amicus Curiae and senior advocate Gopal Subramaniam said that a request was made by COA to ICC president Shashank Manohar to accommodate the other two members also as the ICC ruling states that only one member from a cricket board can represent it in the meeting.
He said that ICC in an email earlier in the morning clarified to BCCI that all three persons authorised by the apex court will be considered for the Dubai meeting starting on Thursday and their travel arrangements are being done.
Senior advocate Shyam Diwan, appearing for TNCA in place of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, claimed that as per the earlier communication except Limaye, the names of other two members Amitabh Chaudhary and Anirudh Chaudhary had been dropped and that he was not aware of the email sent at 9am.
In the morning, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for TNCA, claimed that BCCI CEO Rahul Johri has only selected Vikram Limaye to represent the cricket
Subramaniam had then said that a request has been made to ICC to accomodate the other two members as per the orders of the apex court.
The apex court had on January 30 authorised Limaye, Amitabh Chaudhury and Anirudh Chaudhury to represent BCCI in the ICC three-day meeting starting on February 2.
On January 30, the apex court had appointed a four-member Committee of Administrators headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General of India Vinod Rai to run the affairs of the BCCI and implement court-approved recommendations of the Lodha panel on reforms in the cash-rich cricket body.
Other three members of the committee of administrators include historian Ramachandra Guha, Vikram Limaye, IDFC Managing Director, and former Indian women cricket captain Diana Edulji.
While naming the four members for the committee of administrators (COA), the court had rejected the suggestion of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to appoint Secretary of Union Sports Ministry as one of the administrators, saying its July 18, 2016 judgement had specifically debarred ministers and government servants from holding any office in the BCCI.
The bench also made it clear that the BCCI CEO Rahul Johri would report to this COA and, with the assistance of the counsel of the Board, apprise the administrators about the implementation of the Lodha panel recommendations accepted by the apex court.
The COA will place before the apex court within four weeks the report about the recommendations for reforms in the cricket body complied with by BCCI, it said.
