New Delhi, Sep 13 : The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that the cooling-off period will strip the cricket of qualified administrators.The country can’t afford to lose experienced players who will take the sport to new heights.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the BCCI presented his case before a bench of Justices D.Y.Chandrachud and Hima Kohli that since the BCCI’s constitution is in place today, there exists an opportunity to cool off and If someone is an office-bearer of the state cricket associations for a single term and the BCCI for a specific period the person will be required to seek cooling-off.
When the bench questioned Mehta about the fact that he was stating that the cooling-off period would be limited to two years in the BCCI and that tenure in the state cricket association would not be taken into consideration as a cooling-off period, the SG of the BCCI, using the proposed changes in the constitution stated that the issue of the court is that no one should remain in control is taken into consideration of and the knowledge gained from the state association will not be wasted.
Concerning the issue of disqualification Mehta said that there are many people who have made contributions to cricket, but also work in the advancement of other sports.
“I do not want to call names but one of the best cricketers is currently doing a tremendous services in golf,” he said, noting that the age limit of 70 years old should be removed, with regard to the representation in ICC.
Referring to the constitution, the bench observed that if a person is an official of another association of sports and is a member of that association, that person should not be a part of the cricket club.
“If you’re interested in being in cricket, you should focus only on cricket.
The same person shouldn’t be in more than one location,” it orally observed.
It also said Mehta that 70 years is an old age, even though there are lawyers and doctors who are doing great after 70 years, but why are we are there people who are older than 70 years?
As Mehta stated that the ICC has no age limit The bench stated: “Do not tell us that in Cricket Australia or ECB there are players who are over 70.”
In terms of cooling-off time, Mehta submitted the proposed modification that states that the period that was served by the state cricket association shouldn’t be considered in determining the cooling-off time.He said that the obligation of cooling-off would start in when the office-bearer has been in office for two consecutive terms at the BCCI.
BCCI 3 years plus three years, regardless of the length of time in the state association.
Mehta said that both state cricket associations as well as BCCI are distinct, and have distinct sets of rules and regulations.
The proposed amendment allows incumbent office holders to stay in office despite having completed six years — three years in state association and three years in BCCI.
Mehta said that the current term of three years following which cooling-off timers are set in according to the current constitution, is not enough of an amount of time to demonstrate leadership qualities that can propel the sport to the next level.
The Supreme Court will continue to consider the case on Wednesday and is likely to approve an interim ruling in the matter.
In the past, Mehta had told the court that, as per earlier orders the constitution can only be modified with the permission of the court.
so BCCI filed an application in front of it was even considered.
The BCCI intends to amend its constitution regarding the terms of service of its office bearers such as its president Sourav Ganguly, and Secretary Jay Shah by doing away with the cooling-off period that is mandatory between the terms of office bearers from state cricket associations as well as the BCCI.
The Supreme Court ruled in favour of BCCI’s constitution, which requires a three-year cooling-off time for anyone who has been in two consecutive terms of three years each in the state cricket association or the BCCI in the same way that it accepted reforms in the BCCI suggested by the Justice R.M.Lodha-led panel.
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