Supreme Court lifts ban on MP Anurag Thakur from holding BCCI office

Anurag Thakur was banned from BCCI in 2017 [Source: BCCI, TimesNow/X.com]

Former office holder at the Board of Control for Cricket in India and Member of Parliament from Hamirpur, Anurag Thakur, could now return to the cricketing body. The Supreme Court has decided to lift his ban, 9 years after it was removed from his post as the BCCI president, just days ahead of India hosting the T20 World Cup 2026.

Since the ban, the BJP MP has held prominent ministries in the government of India. He served as Union Minister of State for Finance from May 2019 to July 2021 and Union Minister for Youth and Sports from July 2021 to June 2024.

Subsequently, he was once again elected from his constituency in the 2024 general elections.

Anurag Thakur cleared to hold BCCI office

In January 2017, when he was the 33rd President of India's cricket board, he was removed alongside Secretary Ajay Shirke for not complying with the Lodha panel reforms, despite being asked to do so by the SC earlier in July 2016.

"BCCI President Anurag Thakur and Secretary Ajay Shirke shall forthwith cease and desist from any work of the BCCI," said the Direction (ii) of the Court's 2017 ruling.

However, unconditionally apologising earlier, the SC bench stressed upon the fact that it was not supposed to be a life-long ban and applied the principle of proportionality and clarified that the former BCCI president can participate in the board's affairs as per the rules and regulations.

Why was Anurag Thakur banned from the BCCI?

As per the Lodha Committee reforms from January 2015, the panel recommended several rules and regulations, including that an office bearer cannot be over the age of 70 and should not be a government servant or minister, among others, where Thakur was found guilty and had to spend time away from cricket administration.

The following were the Lodha Committee recommendations:

• The retirement age is to be fixed at 70 years. Any administrator who (a) has criminal charge/s, (b) is of unsound mind, (c) is insolvent, and (d) holds a position in any other athletic association needs to be removed. The tenure of any officer bearer is to be fixed for two consecutive terms.
• A "one vote per state" policy to make BCCI more transparent in its dealings.
• The BCCI President cannot have a tenure of more than two years.
• An independent and sovereign governing body for the IPL.
• To ensure that BCCI officials are not involved in any betting, they need to disclose their assets to the governing board.

Anurag Thakur's involvement in Indian cricket

Before Thakur turned into a full-time politician, he had a long-time involvement in the sport right from the year 2000, when he became the president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, where he developed five stadiums in the state, including the iconic Dharamsala.

Having served as the HPCA president for four straight terms, he had the opportunity to join N Srinivasan's administration in 2011 as the joint-secretary and subsequently the secretary in 2015. In 2016, he became the second-youngest BCCI President at 41, after Fatehsingh Rao Gaekwad's term from 1963 to 1966, assuming duties at just 33.

Notably, Thakur was also an active cricketer before he became an administrator and made his debut for his state in 2000, scoring 0(7) and picking 2/18 in an innings against Jammu and Kashmir.

After his term, several other cricketers led the BCCI, including Sourav Ganguly (2019-22), with secretary Jay Shah (2019-24). They were followed by Roger Binny and Mithun Manhas alongwith secretary Devajit Saikia. Shah also went on to become the ICC chairman later on in 2024.