Supreme Court Says BCCI Can Amend Constitution

The Supreme Court of India accepted suggested revisions to the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) constitution on Wednesday, allowing president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah to extend their terms. Due to the 'cooling-off period clause in the BCCI constitution, both Ganguly and Shah's first tenure ended earlier this month.

In its proposed modification, the BCCI requested the removal of a cooling-off period for its office bearers, allowing Sourav Ganguly and Jay Shah to stay in office as President and Secretary despite having served six years at their respective state cricket associations.

General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the BCCI, told a panel of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli that the game of cricket in the nation has been significantly simplified. He said that the Supreme Court had stated that when the bye-laws became operational, some adjustments might be made with the permission of the court.

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He stated that the BCCI is an autonomous organisation, and that all modifications have been approved by the cricket body's AGM. The bench stated during the submission that "BCCI is a self-governing organisation. We cannot micromanage its operation." Mehta stated, "There is a cooling off period under the current constitution. If I am an officer of the state cricket association for one term and the BCCI for another, I must take a cooling-off period".

From PTI inputs