The Indian Supreme Court on Tuesday "slammed the Board of Control for Cricket in India and accused it of doing nothing to develop cricket in the country," according to the TIMES OF INDIA. The BCCI came in for "sharp criticism after it informed the apex court that allocation of funds to eleven states was zero." The BCCI questioned the Supreme Court's jurisdiction and power to "order introduction of radical changes in the functioning of a private body like the cricket board." In a "scathing attack" on the activities of the cricket board, the court said, "BCCI has created a mutually beneficial society." Questioning why 11 states were penniless, the court observed that the BCCI "must have distributive justice." The court asked, "Why should these states go begging?" The Supreme Court had earlier "slammed the BCCI over allocation of funds to state cricket boards" for development of cricket infrastructure without any "credible monitoring mechanism." The bench sought to know the details of funds the BCCI "has allocated to the states" (TIMES OF INDIA, 4/5). The Indian BUSINESS STANDARD reported the BCCI is "currently contesting" the Lodha panel's recommendation such as "one state, one unit, one vote" which means a state can have only one cricketing body and one voting right. It is also opposed to suggestions such as "no commercial breaks during live cricket matches." The Supreme Court told BCCI lawyers, "Please don't say Lodha Committee recommendations cannot be implemented." The Lodha panel was formed by the Supreme Court in Jan. '15 in "the aftermath of betting and match fixing scandal in the flagship Indian Premier League" (BUSINESS STANDARD, 4/5).
