The Supreme Court on Friday said it may list for next week a plea by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to make amendments in its Constitution.
In an oral mentioning before Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, senior advocate P.S. Patwalia, for the BCCI, said the COVID-19 pandemic had come in the way of a substantive hearing of its application which was filed in 2020.
The case is significant for the BCCI as the date of amendments may decide the tenures of its president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah.
‘Cooling-off period’
The BCCI has urged the court to revise a rule in its new Constitution which mandates that administrators have to go through a three-year ‘cooling-off period’ after six successive years in the BCCI or any State association.
The 'cooling-off period' was a major recommendation made by the Justice R.M. Lodha Committee to reform cricket administration in the country.
"This application was filed two years ago and it came up in April. Amendments are in the pipeline," Mr. Patwalia submitted during the mentioning.
"Let us see if we can list it next week," the Chief Justice responded.
The court had adjourned the case on April 16, 2021 after the amicus curiae sought time to compile the submissions of the various lawyers.
In its 2018 judgment, the Supreme Court had seen eye-to-eye with Justice Lodha's conclusion that "the game will be better off without cricketing oligopolies". To this end, the court had supported the recommendation of the Justice Lodha panel that cricket administrators should undergo a “cooling-off period” before contesting elections to the BCCI or State associations.
