Summary
The BCCI constitution approved by the Supreme Court in 2018 cannot be amended without the Court's leave. It required a three-year cooling-off period after two consecutive terms as an office-bearer, whether in a State association, in the BCCI, or one term in each. The BCCI sought leave for amendments adopted at its 2019 AGM. The Court approved a modified Clause 6(4) as reframed by the amicus curiae, under which cooling-off is triggered by two consecutive terms at the same level, the BCCI or a State association. Changes to the disqualifications in Clause 6(5) were allowed in part: disqualification attaches on conviction and sentence of imprisonment rather than on a charge, but the proposed three-year threshold was rejected. Consequential and administrative amendments were approved, and deleting the requirement of the Court's leave was not pressed.
Issues
- Whether the BCCI's proposed amendment confining the cooling-off period to two consecutive terms at the same level (BCCI or State association) defeats the purpose of the cooling-off requirement
- Whether the proposed modifications to the disqualification criteria in Clause 6(5) should be permitted
Held
- A cooling-off period guards against vested interests and concentration of power, disperses authority and widens the pool of experienced administrators. Requiring it only after two consecutive terms at the same level, with parallel provisions for the BCCI and the State associations as suggested by the amicus curiae, does not abrogate that purpose. (¶¶ 4, 12, 14, 15, 16)
- The BCCI is an autonomous sports body that retains its power as a registered society to amend its constitution. The requirements of a three-fourths majority and the Court's prior leave exist only to ensure that the purpose of the approved constitution is not defeated. (¶ 16)
- Persons associated with other sports bodies after retiring from cricket need not be disqualified, and 'public office' may be confined to Ministers and government servants. Disqualification may attach on conviction and sentence of imprisonment rather than on a mere charge, but the proposed requirement of a sentence of three years or more was rejected. (¶¶ 18, 19)
- Consequential amendments to Clauses 3(b)(vii), 14.3 and 14.4 and administrative amendments to Clauses 7(3), 15(3), 15(4) and 19(2) were accepted. The proposal to delete the requirement of the Court's leave in Clause 45 was not pressed. The 2018 directions requiring State associations to register conforming constitutions apply to these amendments, and objections by former members of the Association of Bihar Cricket were rejected. (¶¶ 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
Result
Interim application disposed of. The amendments to the BCCI constitution were approved as modified by the Court, with the 2018 compliance directions applied to them.