Sourav Ganguly, Jay Shah Can Have BCCI Term 2 After Supreme judicial writ
The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday accepted the proposed changes within the Board of Control for Cricket in India's constitution, which is able to allow current president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah to urge an extension to their term. Both Ganguly and Shah's first terms came to an end earlier this month because of the 'cooling off period' clause within the BCCI constitution.
The BCCI, in its proposed amendment, had sought the abolition of a cooling-off period for its office bearers which might enable Sourav Ganguly and Jay Shah to continue in office as President and Secretary despite them having completed six years at respective state cricket associations.
Earlier, the Justice RM Lodha-led committee had recommended reforms within the BCCI which are accepted by the highest court.
On Tuesday, lawman Tushar Mehta, appearing for BCCI, told a bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli, that the sport of cricket is substantially streamlined within the country. He submitted that the apex court has said that when the bye-laws will enter functional preparedness, some changes may be made with the leave of the court.
He said that the BCCI is an autonomous body and every one the changes are considered by the AGM of the cricket body. While the submission was being made, the bench said "BCCI is an autonomous body. We cannot micro-manage its functioning." Mehta said, "As the constitution exists today, there's a cooling off period. If i'm an office bearer of the state cricket association for one term and BCCI for one more consecutive term, then i've got to travel for a cooling off period".
He added that both bodies are different and their rules also are different and two consecutive tenures of the office bearer are too short to develop leadership at the grassroots level.
