Free to take part in BCCI affairs, says SC while lifting ban on Anurag Thakur

New Delhi, Feb 5 : The Supreme Court on Thursday lifted the ban on BJP MP and former Union Minister Anurag Thakur from holding office in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), nearly nine years after removing him as the cricket body's president.

A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi modified its January 2017 order, which had directed Thakur to "cease and desist from being associated with the working of the BCCI".

Allowing Thakur's application, the CJI Kant-led Bench observed that the ban was never intended to operate as a lifelong disqualification.

In its order, the Supreme Court noted that the restraint had continued for nearly nine years and that Thakur had already tendered an unconditional apology in the matter.

The Apex Court clarified that Thakur - the Member of Parliament from Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur constituency - is now free to take part in the internal, administrative, and other affairs of the BCCI in accordance with its rules and regulations.

On January 2, 2017, Thakur was removed as BCCI president for refusing to implement the recommendations of the Justice R. M. Lodha Committee on structural and governance reforms in the cricket body.

In its 2017 order, a Bench led by then CJI T.S. Thakur had found that the BCCI leadership had adopted an obstructionist and defiant approach in implementing the Top Court-mandated reforms.

At the time, the Supreme Court directed that Anurag Thakur, as president, and Ajay Shirke, as secretary of the BCCI, "shall forthwith cease and desist from being associated with the working of the BCCI," while also initiating contempt proceedings against Thakur.

The Apex Court not only restrained him from associating with the cricket body's functioning but also ordered that a Committee of Administrators supervise the BCCI.