SC Ruling Paves Way For Ganguly, Shah To Remain BCCI President, Secy

New Delhi: Sourav Ganguly and Jay Shah will be able to continue as Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president and secretary, respectively.

A legal hurdle was cleared as Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed BCCI to make amendments to its constitution vis-à-vis the ‘cooling-off’ period.

“Supreme Court allows amendments to the BCCI Constitution to relax cooling-off period requirement for holding one term each as office bearer at State association or BCCI. Cooling-off period will now apply after two consecutive terms at State association or BCCI,” tweeted Live Law.

An administrator, henceforth, will need to take a cooling-off period after two consecutive terms (of three years each) in office, either in a state association or BCCI.

The apex court was hearing BCCI’s petition to allow amendment of its constitution in order to eliminate the required cooling-off period for office-holders across state cricket associations and BCCI.

According to recommendations of Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee, an office-bearer had to take a three-year cooling-off after serving two terms in state association and BCCI combined. If that was followed, the tenures of Ganguly and Shah would have been over already.

“Leadership develops at the grassroots level and it remains in the state association. By the time his time comes for being elevated to the BCCI, he has to go for a mandatory three-year cooling-off period. One cannot become a member of the BCCI if he is not an active member of the state association,” BCCI’s legal counsel Tushar Mehta told the two-judge bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli.