A decision over the tenures of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) office-bearers, Sourav Ganguly (President), Jay Shah (Secretary) and Jayesh George (joint-secretary) could be taken today, with the Supreme Court set to hear a plea over the possibilities of an extension for the trio.
All three – Ganguly, Shah and George – should ideally be on their cooling-off periods at present, according to the Lodha reforms, but the Covid-19 pandemic has seen them getting extensions on a number of occasions.
A plea over the extension of their tenures and amendments in the current constitution of the BCCI has been with the Supreme Court for a few months and today, a decision is likely to be taken. A two-judge panel has been appointed for the matter, headed by Justice L Nageshwara Rao. Both the judges, Justice Rao and Justice Vineet Saran have termed this case as ‘high importance’ that should come to a decision without any further delay.
As per the existing model, the trio of George, Ganguly and Shah needs to serve a 3-year cooling-off period having spent 6 years in one or more administrative posts in the BCCI. Before becoming the president of the board, Ganguly was the joint-secretary at the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). Shah, too, had become the joint secretary in Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) in 2013.
Despite Covid-19 restrictions, Justice Rao stressed the importance of coming to a conclusion on the matter. “We can’t keep adjourning like this. We had adjourned six times. Don’t adjourn … we will not adjourn it… list on March 23,” he had said on February 16. A decision on March 23 could not be taken as Justice Rao was busy with another case.
The BCCI, meanwhile, is seeking 6 amendments in its constitution approved by former CJI Justice Dipak Mishra.
