The Supreme Court of India, on September 14, 2022, accepted the proposed change in the constitution presented by the BCCI which has cleared the way for the extension of Sourav Ganguly, Jay Shah's terms in the board.
Both Ganguly and Shah's first terms came to an end earlier this month due to the 'cooling off period' clause in the BCCI constitution.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has finally had its way with regard to cooling-off restrictions for the office bearers before being elected to the position.
Among the key reforms, the BCCI had asked the court to review are the mandatory cooling-off period for its office-bearers, modifying the disqualification criteria for holding office, giving unprecedented powers to the board secretary, and preventing the court from having a say if the BCCI wants to alter its constitution in the future.
The BCCI had filed the plea in December 2019 and then filed a fresh appeal in April 2020. It had pressed the court to hear the matter urgently considering the outcome would have a significant bearing on the BCCI's elections scheduled for late September.
As per the BCCI's re-drafted constitution, which came into effect in 2018, an office-bearer/administrator has to go on a three-year cooling-off period having completed two consecutive terms (six years) either at a state association or in the BCCI, or a combination of both.
The Apex Court, in its order, has said that an office-bearer needs go into cooling-off after one term at the state and the BCCI levels and allowed two consecutive terms each at both levels. Effectively, it will allow Jay Shah, the present secretary of the BCCI to continue in the BCCI.
The SC has allowed amendments to the BCCI constitution requiring a break after a combination of two terms (of three years each) at the state and BCCI to cooling-off requirement only after two consecutive terms at that level, effectively allowing Shah to have another term as office-bearer as the secretary has had one term at the BCCI.
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On Tuesday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for BCCI, told a bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli, that the game of cricket is substantially streamlined in the country.
He submitted that the apex court has said that when the bye-laws will go into functional preparedness, some changes could be made with the leave of the court.
"BCCI is an autonomous body. We cannot micro-manage its functioning. As the constitution exists today, there is a cooling off period. If I am an office bearer of the state cricket association for one term and BCCI for another consecutive term, then I have to go for a cooling off period,” Mehta said.
He added that both bodies are different and their rules are also different and two consecutive tenures of the office bearer are too short to develop leadership at the grassroots level.
(Cricbuzz/PTI inputs)
