The Supreme Court has questioned why the **Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)** and its affiliated state cricket associations should not be included in the National Sports Governance Act, 2025, and not have their share in the governance of Indian cricket as per that.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana raised the issue while hearing applications relating to the long-running BCCI issue. The court asked the BCCI and state associations to state why they should not be governed by the new sports legislation.
Why is the Supreme Court examining BCCI?
The Supreme Court has been dealing with BCCI administration issues for nearly 12 years. The court’s involvement in cricket governance has previously led to a series of reforms intended to improve transparency, accountability and the functioning of the country’s powerful cricket body.
Even so, many disputes between states and their cricket associations and their members are still before the top court. At present, there are still some applications for changes in the form of the constitution of a state, administrative arrangements and disputes over control over cricket bodies.
From this perspective, the court has now raised the more general question of whether BCCI and its state affiliates should be included in the National Sports Governance Act.
What did the Supreme Court ask?
The court asked lawyers representing the BCCI and state associations to give instructions on why the organisations should not be covered by the 2025 legislation.
The bench has also raised questions about whether the **terms and conditions of service of office-bearers** in these cricket bodies should be governed by the provisions of the Act, which is now in force.
The questions do not, by themselves, mean that BCCI has already been brought under the Act. But the court needs responses before deciding the legal position.
What could the Act mean for BCCI?
The National Sports Governance Act provides a broader statutory framework for the administration of sports bodies in India. Bringing the BCCI within such a framework could enhance regulatory oversight and better define governance, office-bearers, elections and accountability.
BCCI has been an unusual institution in Indian sport for over a century, because of its immense financial strength and popularity of cricket. In spite of it not being an ordinary government department, its power over Indian cricket and its control of national-level cricket administration has never been less important and so its legal and regulatory status is an issue of the day.
If the court finds that the Act takes effect on the BCCI, that will affect not only the national cricket board but also the state associations.
Long-running cricket governance debate
The recent development is more evidence of the Supreme Court's resolve in governance issues in Indian cricket. It has been the court which has been spearheading institutional reforms at the BCCI.
The current situation could thus be the latest chapter in the long-running debate on the shape of India’s richest sporting organization.
For now, the BCCI and state associations are asked to answer the court's questions. Their answers could determine how the Supreme Court will apply the National Sports Governance Act to cricket administration.
The issue will be a subject of considerable interest as any significant shift in BCCI governance will have a big effect on Indian cricket, the state associations and the way sporting institutions are governed in the country.
