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The Supreme Court today said that all three persons authorised by it to represent the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) "enjoy the same status" and will be attending the crucial International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting in Dubai.
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 Vikram Limaye to attend the meeting of ICC 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 accomodate the other members also as an ICC rule prescribes that only one member from a cricket board can represent it in the meeting.
He said that ICC has in an email at around 9 AM clarified to BCCI that all three persons authorised by the apex court will be considered for Dubai meeting starting tomorrow 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 communication of 6 AM except Limaye, the names of other two members Amitabh Chaudhary and Anirudh Chaudhary had been dropped and that he was not aware of the 9 AM email.
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 board in the meeting while the names of other two members have been dropped.
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 bench then had asked the parties to mention the matter at 2 PM when it will hear their pleas.
The apex court had on January 30 authorised Vikram Limaye, Amitabh Chaudhury and Anirudh Chaudhury to represent BCCI in the ICC three-day meeting starting February 2.
The apex court had earlier 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 Justice R M 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 captain of Indian women's cricket team 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 the Secretary of the 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 BCCI.
The apex court had made it clear that the BCCI CEO 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 had said.
