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Anurag Thakur escapes, but rough road ahead for N Srinivasan, Niranjan Shah

Thakur, who was removed as president of BCCI on January 2 this year, stated in the fresh apology filed a day before

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Anurag Thakur has seen it all in his short career at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCC). From the heights of being its president, just a year back, to apologising in front of the three-member special bench of the Supreme Court on Friday, his stint has been nothing short of dramatic.

On Friday, Thakur's face said it all. The moment Apex court accepted his "unconditional" apology, he wore that smile that was eluding him ever since he was charged with perjury for interfering in the implementation of the Justice Lodha panel recommendations.

"I humbly submit that it was never my intention to undermine the majesty of this Hon'ble Court and since unintentionally some kind of misinformation or miscommunication has occurred, I unhesitatingly tender my unconditional and unequivocal apology to this Hon'ble court," Thakur, who was removed as president of BCCI on January 2 this year, stated in the fresh apology filed a day before.

The issue of perjury arose after the Court found discrepancies in Thakur's statements on seeking a letter from the ICC stating that implementation of the Lodha panel's recommendations and the Apex court's directions amounted to government interference in the Board's working and could mean the de-recognition of the BCCI.

Notice to Srinivasan, Shah

Earlier, it was turn of another former BCCI president N Srinivasan, whose presence during the May 7 and June 26 Special General Meetings has offended the special bench of SC.

Justice Dipak Misra repeated it three times to express his unhappiness over Srinivasan's presence along with former secretary Niranjan Shah in the SGMs. This pair of former BCCI office-bearers were slammed by Committee of Administrators (COA) in its fourth status report filed before the Court.

"If a person is disqualified to be an office-bearer, he cannot be nominated by office bearers," came a strong observation by Justice Dipak Misra on Friday. It was then decided to hear this particular matter on July 24, two days before the next BCCI SGM on July 26, to clear the air once and for all.

Justice Misra's statement is significant because Srinivasan has in the past tendered "unconditional apology" before the special bench then headed by former CJI TS Thakur.

Both Srinivasan and Shah, despite being disqualified as office-bearers on grounds that they are over 70 years of age and having exceeded the tenure cap, had attended BCCI meetings as representatives or nominees of their respective state associations — Tamil Nadu and Saurashtra. COA has also submitted an audio CD before the Court to prove their claim.

"Till now, most recommendations were by and large accepted by BCCI. So, when the wider BCCI body held SGMs to discuss and ratify the short-listed Lodha recommendations, the meetings were 'hijacked' by Srinivasan and Shah. Both kept repeating 'nothing can be implemented'," was how amicus curiae Gopal Subramanium apprised the Court.

BCCI's acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary's separate affidavit also stated that five state associations — Tamil Nadu, Saurashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Goa — had objected to the implementation of the recommendations at the SGM on June 26.

The Court further accepted the resignations of COA members, Vikram Limaye and Ramachandra Guha, and the replacements would be named on July 24 also.

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