Aditya Verma, the petitioner in the 2013 spot-fixing case which led to a slew of reforms in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has decided to appeal to the Supreme Court to exempt Sourav Ganguly, Jay Shah and the others’ compulsory three-year cooling off period which starts in July.
“I have decided to file an appeal to the Supreme Court for the extension of Sourav Ganguly and his team... That they should complete their three-year tenures,” Verma told The Telegraph on Monday.
According to the new BCCI constitution, any person who has been an office-bearer in state as well as BCCI for consecutive period of six years will have to go through a compulsory cooling off period of three years.
Sourav was a former Cricket Association of Bengal joint secretary and president. When he took over as BCCI president in October last, he had roughly nine months left. Ditto for BCCI secretary Shah, who has been the secretary of Gujarat Cricket Association for more than five years, and will also have to go into compulsory cooling off.
“I am doing this entirely because of Dada. If a person of his stature can’t complete his term, then it’s not fair. He is a former India captain. If it involved anyone else I would never have done it,” Verma said.
“The Committee of Administrators had ruined the BCCI for nearly three years. Sourav and his team must be given time to put things in place,” Verma said.
Verma is hoping that the Supreme Court will hear his appeal once it resumes normal functioning after the lockdown in the country due to Covid-19 pandemic.
The BCCI had recommended several amendments to the constitution in November which includes modifying the cooling-off period for the president, secretary and other office-bearers, stopping the court from having a say for any constitutional amendment and allotting more powers to the secretary. The matter is still pending before the apex court.
IPL fate
The BCCI mandarins and the eight IPL franchises are likely to have a video conference on Tuesday to decide on the fate of the IPL. Australia’s unwillingness to send their athletes for the Olympics this year and its fallout in the IPL will also be discussed.
The 13th edition of the tournament, which was scheduled to start on March 29, has been “suspended” till April 15 following the outbreak of Covid-19.