Despite getting relief in some major clauses, the latest Supreme Court verdict on Lodha Committee reforms has put the BCCI members in jeopardy as few of them are ineligible for the next board elections.
In the new verdict, SC has provided the relaxation in the ‘cooling-off period’ for every administration. While the proposal was the ‘cooling-off period’ has to activate after every three-year term of the total nine-year term, the new verdict has said that the ‘cooling-off period’ for every administration will be available after the six-year term.
Also read: The latest SC verdict on Lodha reforms makes CoA members happy
The current officials of the BCCI – interim president CK Khanna, interim secretary Amitabh Choudhary and treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry – all will be ineligible for the next BCCI elections due to completing their nine-year administration terms in their respective state associations. However, they have only spent the one term of three years in BCCI but their overall administration terms come under this matter.
Similarly, the IPL governing council chairman Rajeev Shukla and the former BCCI president Anurag Thakur will also be ineligible for the next cricket board elections due to completing their overall administration terms in their respective state associations.
Also read: Anurag Thakur files an application to SC seeking the recall of BCCI President
On the other hand, the administrators who have completed their six consecutive years in the administration post(s) in BCCI or/and State associations, they will now have to face the three-year ‘cooling-off period’ immediately.
The latest order on the cooling-off period states, “For instance, if an office bearer has held office for two consecutive terms in any post in a state association, such an individual must face a cooling off period of three years. Likewise, if an individual has held any post as an office bearer of the BCCI for a total period of six years in succession, the individual must have a cooling off period of three years before seeking election again either to the BCCI or to a state association. The cooling off period would apply also in a situation where an individual holds a post for one term in a state association followed by a post in the BCCI successively or vice versa.”
At the present situation, the CAB (Cricket Association of Bengal) president Sourav Ganguly is one of the top contenders to become the next BCCI president as he is eligible for the next BCCI elections due to spending only four consecutive years in the state association’s post.
SC also has ruled out the ‘one-state-one-vote policy’ recommendation in the new verdict. Also, in the new SC verdict, Railways, Services and Universities have got back their permanent membership status and similarly Mumbai, Saurashtra, Vadodara and Vidarbha have also received the membership status.
SC has also defended the five-member selection committee and has ruled out Lodha Committee’s recommendation to decrease the number to three. It has further added that the eligible selection committee members have to be played a minimum – seven Tests or 30 first-class matches or 10 ODIs & 20 first-class matches.
