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BCCI free to conduct banking transactions for routine matters: Lodha
![[Image: prv_d014f_1475583593.jpg]]()
Retired Justice RM Lodha, who headed the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee entrusted with the task of cleaning up India's cricket administration, reiterated that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) misread its e-mails to the two banks which manage the accounts of the Indian board and that there have been no instructions passed on to the banks to freeze the board's accounts.
"This is a misinterpretation or misconstruing of the email that was sent to the BCCI yesterday," Lodha told ANI on Tuesday (October 4). "We have not frozen any of the accounts ... routine expenses for matches, cricket activities and administrative matters are not restrained," he added.
Justice Lodha was responding to the statements of Anurag Thakur, the BCCI President, who charged that by freezing the accounts of the board, the Lodha panel had brought disrepute to the BCCI. Thakur also stated that the panel's actions raised doubts over the immediate functioning of cricket in India. The BCCI President had also slyly hinted at the possibility of cancelling the ongoing series against New Zealand and said staging domestic tournaments wouldn't be possible if the board didn't pay the requisite money to its member associations.
"I can't talk about whether series (India-New Zealand) will go on or not but if players and associations are not paid, it raises serious questions at a time when the team is No. 1 in Tests, No. 2 in T20s, No. 3 in ODIs. It's the most powerful board. We have created a successful tournament like IPL. We can't run the game without money," Thakur had said.
"BCCI does not take any money from outside, whether it's central or state government. Banks were told not to release payments. It is unfortunate that such a situation has arisen," he added.
Thakur was referring to media reports that claimed that Bank of Maharashtra and Yes Bank, the two banks which manage the accounts of the Indian cricket board, had indeed put the accounts under freeze.
However, Lodha begged to disagree. "In the morning when we came to know that two BCCI accounts were frozen, we immediately sent e-mails to the banks to defreeze the accounts. So the BCCI can operate their accounts except the large funds that are to be disbursed to the state associations", he was quoted as saying by India Today.
"If there's any confusion, BCCI must contact the panel. We will give a written clarification to the banks if needed," he added.
Speaking to the same media group, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, secretary of the Lodha Panel, hinted that there must be some confusion within the banks and they have now clearly been told to let BCCI operate its account for routine transactions. The secretary also added that the ongoing series against New Zealand shouldn't be called off as expenses for staging matches and series falls under the board's routine matters.
However, the Lodha panel has once again insisted that the board isn't entitled to act upon decisions taken during the Special General Meeting (SGM), which was held on September 30, and hence disbursing payments would be held 'illegal'. The SGM had reportedly cleared disbursing large amount of payments to its member associations, including distribution of the claims which were received by various state organizations ever since the cash-rich Champions League was discontinued.
"It has come to the notice of this Committee that certain decisions have been taken at the Emergent Working Committee meeting of the BCCI on September 30 to disburse large funds to the various member associations," the Lodha Committee had stated in a letter addressed to the board's secretary Ajay Shirke, treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry and CEO Rahul Johri.
BCCI free to conduct banking transactions for routine matters: Lodha
![[Image: prv_d014f_1475583593.jpg]](http://i.cricketcb.com/i/news/fth/595x396/stories/2016/oct/4/prv_d014f_1475583593.jpg)
"This is a misinterpretation or misconstruing of the email that was sent to the BCCI yesterday," Lodha told ANI on Tuesday (October 4). "We have not frozen any of the accounts ... routine expenses for matches, cricket activities and administrative matters are not restrained," he added.
Justice Lodha was responding to the statements of Anurag Thakur, the BCCI President, who charged that by freezing the accounts of the board, the Lodha panel had brought disrepute to the BCCI. Thakur also stated that the panel's actions raised doubts over the immediate functioning of cricket in India. The BCCI President had also slyly hinted at the possibility of cancelling the ongoing series against New Zealand and said staging domestic tournaments wouldn't be possible if the board didn't pay the requisite money to its member associations.
"I can't talk about whether series (India-New Zealand) will go on or not but if players and associations are not paid, it raises serious questions at a time when the team is No. 1 in Tests, No. 2 in T20s, No. 3 in ODIs. It's the most powerful board. We have created a successful tournament like IPL. We can't run the game without money," Thakur had said.
"BCCI does not take any money from outside, whether it's central or state government. Banks were told not to release payments. It is unfortunate that such a situation has arisen," he added.
Thakur was referring to media reports that claimed that Bank of Maharashtra and Yes Bank, the two banks which manage the accounts of the Indian cricket board, had indeed put the accounts under freeze.
However, Lodha begged to disagree. "In the morning when we came to know that two BCCI accounts were frozen, we immediately sent e-mails to the banks to defreeze the accounts. So the BCCI can operate their accounts except the large funds that are to be disbursed to the state associations", he was quoted as saying by India Today.
"If there's any confusion, BCCI must contact the panel. We will give a written clarification to the banks if needed," he added.
Speaking to the same media group, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, secretary of the Lodha Panel, hinted that there must be some confusion within the banks and they have now clearly been told to let BCCI operate its account for routine transactions. The secretary also added that the ongoing series against New Zealand shouldn't be called off as expenses for staging matches and series falls under the board's routine matters.
However, the Lodha panel has once again insisted that the board isn't entitled to act upon decisions taken during the Special General Meeting (SGM), which was held on September 30, and hence disbursing payments would be held 'illegal'. The SGM had reportedly cleared disbursing large amount of payments to its member associations, including distribution of the claims which were received by various state organizations ever since the cash-rich Champions League was discontinued.
"It has come to the notice of this Committee that certain decisions have been taken at the Emergent Working Committee meeting of the BCCI on September 30 to disburse large funds to the various member associations," the Lodha Committee had stated in a letter addressed to the board's secretary Ajay Shirke, treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry and CEO Rahul Johri.