BCCI moves SC for full three-year terms for Sourav

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has moved the Supreme Court seeking important changes in its constitution that would allow president SouravGanguly and secretary Jay Shah to complete their three-year terms by ducking the three-year cooling-off period prescribed by the Justice Lodha panel and approved by the SC, applicable to both from July and June, respectively.

In the application filed by treasurerArun Singh Dhumal, the BCCI said these changes were approved at the AGM on December 1 last year and it was seeking leave of the SC, as per its August 9, 2018 order, to implement them by changing the board's constitution.

The draft constitution, prepared by the committee of administrators and approved by the SC, had stipulated a mandatory three-year cooling period for anyone who had served two terms in state cricket associations or BCCI. Taking this clause into account, Ganguly and Shah would have to stay away from cricket management for three years starting from July and June this year, respectively. Both were elected unopposed in October last year.

The board's AGM approved that the cooling-off period would apply to the president and the secretary only if they had served two "consecutive terms at BCCI", thus erasing their stints in state cricket associations. While Ganguly was an office-bearer of the Cricket Association of Bengal, Shah had stints at the Gujarat Cricket Association.

Proposing another major change in its constitution, the BCCI said disqualification on other grounds should be applicable only to membership in the BCCI and its apex council and not extend to the International Cricket Council or any such international body. It also proposed to do away with the CoA-prepared constitution which disqualified any person charged with a criminal offence from becoming a member of BCCI.

Dhaka/Mukul