Sourav Ganguly and Jay Shah to continue on as BCCI supremos

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly and Secretary Jay Shah will continue on with their current roles after the Supreme Court allowed the changes proposed in the BCCI’s constitution. The decision means both Ganguly and Shah can continue to serve as President and Secretary respectively without having to serve the mandatory cooling-off period. 

As per the BCCI’s original constitution, an office bearer is needed to undergo a three-year cooling-off period between two consecutive terms in either the State Association or the BCCI or both combined. Earlier, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was appearing for the BCCI, had stated in front of the bench that “the game of cricket is substantially streamlined in the country”. He had also argued that, by the time the bye-laws went into effect, changes would be made with the leave of the court. 

The bench, comprising Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli, stated that a BCCI office bearer could have continuous tenure of a total of twelve years, including six years in the State Association and six years in the BCCI, before the three-year cooling-off period kicked in. The bench said that an office bearer could serve two consecutive terms in the same post, at both State Association and BCCI levels, post which they would need to serve a three-year cooling-off period.

Ganguly served as the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) from 2014 until 2019 when he was appointed as BCCI President, while Shah was an office bearer in the Gujarat Cricket Association since 2013. Both Ganguly and Shah’s six-year term as office bearers ended in 2020.

The BCCI earlier had sought for the abolition of the cooling-off period for their officer bearers, which would allow both Ganguly and Shah to continue on as President and Secretary respectively, following reformation from the Justice RM Lodha-led committee.  

The Supreme Court stated:

“We are of the considered view that the amendment would not dilute the original objective. We accept the proposed amendment. Amendment proposed by the BCCI doesn’t detract from the spirit of our original judgement & is accepted.

“The purpose of the cooling-off period is not to create undesirable monopolies.“