The Supreme Court is set to hear on Wednesday a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) plea to modify its constitution to primarily enable president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah to continue to hold on to their posts instead of serving the mandatory cooling-off period.
Soon after the dispensation led by Ganguly and Shah took charge last October as elected office-bearers after the board was managed by a Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators for nearly three years, the BCCI started an apparent effort to dilute the apex court-directed administrative reforms. During its annual general meeting in December, the BCCI passed several resolutions that were allegedly contrary to the spirit of the reforms.
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In the civil appeal filed on April 21, the BCCI, among other requests, asked the Supreme Court to separate the tenures of office-bearers of the BCCI and the state associations before serving mandatory cooling-off periods. The BCCI has also requested India’s apex court to do away with a clause allowing any amendment to the BCCI constitution only with the Supreme Court’s approval.
According to the existing rulebook, Shah, who served as the Gujarat Cricket Association joint secretary before his election to the BCCI, should have demitted office at the end of June to serve a three-year cooling-off period. Ganguly, meanwhile, is eligible to remain an office-bearer till next week as of now.
Interestingly, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) filed an interlocutory application in the apex court on July 4 requesting that it be excused from nominating a representative to the apex council of the BCCI and state associations. The application is also set to be heard on Wednesday. If the court recuses the CAG from the apex council, it will result in modifying the entire apex council structure. At the moment, the BCCI apex council consists of nine members: five office-bearers, a councillor, one male and female cricketer representative each, and the CAG nominee.
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