XtraTime Web Desk: The long awaited turmoil comes to an end as the honourable Supreme Court decided to dump the proposal of the Lodha Committee.
The confusion over the feasibility of ‘one state, one vote’ recommendation by the Lodha Committee ended when the Supreme Court, on Thursday, decided to dump the proposal.
The recommendation — validated earlier by the Supreme Court — pertained to awarding full membership under the ‘one state, one-vote’ rule to Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Mizoram and Uttarakhand (the last two are not even affiliate members of the BCCI).
The Lodha Committee had also suggested that “in States with multiple existing members, the BCCI shall recognise one of them to represent the state, while the remaining shall become associate members.’’
A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud said they have accepted the draft BCCI Constitution with certain “alterations”. While approving the draft BCCI Constitution, the bench granted full memberships to Saurashtra, Vidarbha, Mumbai Cricket Association, Railways, Services and Varsities association.
The court also upheld the principle of cooling off period — where an office bearer was to have a three-year gap between terms – but said it will not kick in after every term.
Cooling off period will be imposed after two consecutive terms whether in the board, State associations or a combination of both.
The new Constitution ought to be registered in four weeks with the Tamil Nadu Registrar of Societies. BCCI members have to comply within the next 30 days and intimate the Committee of Administrators (CoA), the Court said.
The apex court also kept the Committee of Administrators intact and asked the CoA to monitor the developments and report back in case of non-compliance by any state association. The bench also clarified that the state associations will be able to conduct elections after adopting the new constitution.