SC approves BCCI constitution after two major changes

The Supreme Court on Thursday approved the draft Constitution of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) based on the Lodha Committee recommendations after making a couple of important changes, granting full permanent membership to the Railways, the Tri-Services, and Association of Indian Universities among others.

The Supreme Court order on finalizing the BCCI constitution shut the door firmly on former BCCI president N Srinivasan, aged 73, and former board secretary Niranjan Shah by disqualifying any individual above the age of 70 from being a part of any board committee or even being a representative in the International Cricket Committee on behalf of the board.

Thursday’s order also barred members from holding any office or post in a sports or athletic association or federation apart from cricket in addition to the existing recommendations as per Lodha Committee report. 

The three-member bench headed by Chief justice of India Dipak Misra, however, opened up a window for a lot of other former office members by altering the conditions for the cooling-off period and redefining the one state one vote regulations.

The bench declined to give full member status to National Cricket Club and the Cricket Club of India but drastically altered the Lodha Committee recommendations — originally adopted in full and later reviewed for practical purposes on appeal from CoA and state member associations. The court granted full member status to Railways, Services and Association of Indian Universities while all multiple cricket associations within a political state, like Vidharbha, Maharashtra and Mumbai, Saurashtra, Baroda and Gujarat retained their voting rights instead of being granted on a rotational basis.

The SC bench also stated in its order that cooling-off period will henceforth apply only after two consecutive terms instead of one term earlier as per Lodha committee recommendations. SC order on BCCI says: "There shall be a cooling-off period of three years after an individual has held the post of an office bearer for two consecutive terms either in a state association or in the BCCI or a combination of both. In addition, the expression ‘office bearer’ should not be permitted to be circumvented by being a member of any other committee or of the Governing Council in BCCI or any state association, as the case may be.”

The SC bench also ordered all states to comply with the new constitution approved by the court while directing the Registrar of Societies — BCCI is registered as a society in Tamil Nadu — to approve the constitution within 4 weeks after the constitution is submitted by COA. All state will then get an additional 30 days to comply and submit a compliance certificate, failing which they will get no financial grant from the BCCI.