Contempt of court if BCCI don't turn up: Lodha panel source

The BCCI top brass will be facing charges of ‘Contempt of Court’ if they decide not to appear in front of the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Panel to discuss the implementation of the Apex Court’s verdict within next six months.

BCCI’s legal advisor Justice Markandey Katju has termed the panel as “null and void” asking BCCI not to appear before them on August 9 -- the scheduled date of meeting.

A source close to the Lodha Panel said that if BCCI wants to skip the meeting the only way to do it is by filing a review petition and getting a stay order on the Supreme Court verdict passed on July 18 by 11 am on August 9.

“If they want to go by Justice Katju’s advice, they need to file a review petition in Supreme Court and get a stay order on the verdict by 11 am on August 9 -- that is Tuesday.  If they fail to procure a stay order and even then skip the meeting, it will be considered as Contempt of Court,” the source close to panel told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

When asked about the scathing observations made by Justice Katju in his interim report, the source said: “The panel would not like to make any comments as Justice Katju is irrelevant in this matter. The committee can’t be expected to make comments on each and every issue.”