Now SC appoints mediator in BCCI matter

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed amicus curiae senior advocate P S Narasimha to act as a mediator to deal with any dispute in the BCCI matter.

The court asked the amicus to look into all issues, saying, "the game must go on".

A bench of Justices S A Bobde and Abhay Manohar Sapre said that he will handle disputes between BCCI and Committee of Administrators (CoA) and CoA and some associations, and complaints on the release of funds.

"No other court shall deal with the matter related to the BCCI and state associations, till amicus gives his report," the bench ordered.

After the dispute, the bench itself broached this idea of referring different issues for mediation, which was accepted by all the parties.

"If some issues can be resolved through mediation. We can refer those to Justice D K Jain," the bench said. Justice Jain was appointed as ombudsman last time.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for some state associations, said Narasimha could be appointed as the mediator.

"We have complied with the Lodha panel recommendations. But there are certain things beyond it. This can be resolved by Narasimha," he said.

During the hearing, issues of not releasing of funds by the CoA to state associations, like of Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh were brought to the court's notice, which asked the amicus to make a recommendation in this regard to the CoA.