BCCI revamp: On Lodha panel recommendations
The Supreme Court has been pragmatic in tweaking the Lodha norms on running cricket
Two years after accepting the Justice R.M. Lodha Committee’s recommendations, the Supreme Court has now extended(बढ़ा दी/विस्तृत) some concessions(रियायतें ) to those aggrieved(पीड़ित/असंतुष्ट) by the rigorous rules, which aimed to revamp(सुधार)cricket administration in the country. The reasoning given in the order of a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra suggests that it is a pragmatic(धृष्ट/व्यावहारिक) modification rather than a significant climbdown(नीचे उतराना). Justice Lodha, a former Chief Justice of India, however, feels that the court has now knocked out the foundation of his recommendations(सिफारिशों ). The most significant change concerns the cooling-off period prescribed(निर्धारित) for office-bearers before they are allowed to contest for a subsequent(आगामी/बाद ) term(शर्त/अवधि). Against the panel’s view that every office-bearer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, in the national board or in a State association, should have a three-year break after a three-year term, the court has now allowed two three-year terms — that is, a tenure of six years — before the mandatory break kicks in. The logic behind a cooling-off period is that office-bearers(पदाधिकारी) should not be given lengthy tenures that enable them to establish(स्थापित/सिद्ध करना) personal fiefdoms. The argument(तर्क/युक्ति) against it is that the experience and knowledge that an office-bearer gains over three years should not be frittered(बेकार/व्यर्थ नष्ट करना) away, and a second term could help consolidate(मजबूत/समेकित करना) such learnings. The Bench has accepted the logic behind this and chosen to defer the cooling-off period until she completes two terms. Given that there is a nine-year aggregate(कुल/संयुक्त होना) limit as well as an age limit of 70 for any office-bearer, this change may not amount to any significant dilution(कम करना/ कमजोर पड़ना )of the core principle that there should be no perpetuation of power centres.
The Lodha panel had also favoured the ‘one State, one vote’ norm. This meant that an association representing a State alone should be recognised(स्वीकृत/मान्य) as a voting member of the BCCI, while associations representing a region within a State or entities(संस्थाओं/वास्तविकता) that do not represent(प्रतिनिधित्व करना/वर्णन करना) a territory(क्षेत्र/इलाक़ा) should not have the same vote or status. This norm has been overruled. Gujarat and cwill have three votes each, as the associations of Baroda and Saurashtra in Gujarat, and Mumbai and Vidarbha in Maharashtra will have separate(अलग) votes. In this, too, the court has accepted the reasoning that associations that had contributed significantly to Indian cricket need not be stripped(छीन लिया/अलग ) of their full membership. It is now up to the administrators of the future to dispel(दूर करना) Justice Lodha’s apprehensions(आशंकाओं/हिरासत) that this may lead to manipulation of votes. Whether the changes adopted by the court while finalising a new constitution for the BCCI differ in significant ways from what was proposed by the Lodha committee will be a matter of debate. However, judicial intervention(हस्तक्षेप) has been immensely(विशालता/अधिकता से) helpful in making cricket administration more efficient(कुशल/कार्यक्षम )and professional, and addressing the credibility deficit of recent times.
Important vocabulary
1.Aggrieved(पीड़ित/असंतुष्ट)
Synonyms: disturbed, grieving, oppressed, persecuted, wronged,
Antonyms: comforted, happy, pleased
2.Pragmatic(धृष्ट/व्यावहारिक)
Synonyms: businesslike, down-to-earth, efficient, hardheaded, logical
Antonyms: excited, impractical, inefficient, irrational, unrealistic
3.Argument(तर्क/युक्ति
Synonyms: altercation, bickering, brawl, clash, controversy
Antonyms: agreement, harmony, peace, calm
4.Aggregate(कुल/संयुक्त होना
Synonyms: accumulated, combined, corporate, cumulative, added,
Antonyms: uncombined, individual, part, particular
5.Apprehensions(आशंकाओं/हिरासत)
Synonyms: alarm, disquiet, doubt, dread, foreboding, misgiving
Antonyms: belief, calm, calmness, certainty, confidence
6.Immensely(विशालता/अधिकता से)
Synonyms: ever, more, too, extra, overmuch
Antonyms: essential, necessary, failed, fewer, incomplete
7.Dispel(दूर करना)
Synonyms: allay, chase away, dismiss, disperse, dissipate
Antonyms: accept, collect, gather, keep, welcome
8.Stripped(छीन लिया/अलग
Synonyms: deprived, bare, denuded, exposed, peeled
9.Dilution(कम करना/ कमजोर पड़ना )
Synonyms: concoction, dilution, infusion, mixture, preparation
Antonyms: ascent, increase, rise
