SC approves BCCI’s new constitution

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday accepted the draft constitution prepared by the Justice Lodha panel, with certain modifications.

In what comes as a relief to the BCCI, the SC relaxed the recommendations regarding the ‘One State, One Vote’ policy and altered the ‘cooling off period’ policy for the office-bearers. The SC has modified the recommendation for the cooling off period of the BCCI office-bearers, enabling them to serve two consecutive terms, instead of one. The latest ruling will enable officials to serve for six consecutive years - either with the BCCI, or its member bodies or a combination of both - before the rule comes into effect.

The SC has also struck down the ‘One State, One Vote’ policy, allowing the state associations from Gujarat (Gujarat, Saurashtra and Baroda) and Maharashtra (Maharashtra, Mumbai and Vidarbha) respectively to continue with their full memberships and voting rights. As per the Lodha recommendations, associations that didn’t constitute a state - Railways, Services, Universities, National Cricket Club (Kolkata) and Cricket Club of India - were to be removed as full members.