SC to hear BCCI's plea seeking extension of Sourav Ganguly & Jay Shah's terms in March

In a major development, the Supreme Court is set to hear the BCCI petition seeking an extension of Sourav Ganguly and Jay Shah as the President and Secretary of the board, respectively. After much delay, the top court has scheduled the hearing in the month of March. A bench of Justice L Nageswara Rao and Justice L. Ravindra Bhat will hear the matter. 

The country's national cricket board had filed a plea in the Supreme Court, seeking to waive off the mandatory cooling period of both the top officials. As per the Lodha Committee's recommendations approved by the Supreme Court in August 2018, officials are required to undergo a mandatory 3-year cooling off period after having served for six years in the administration. 

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BCCI seeks 6 changes

Sourav Ganguly, India's former captain, had been serving as the Joint Secretary of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) since 2014 before being elected as the BCCI President in 2019. After a year of holding the top post, Ganguly was expected to undergo the cooling-off period in 2020, which now the board seeks to waive off. On the other hand, Jay Shah was appointed as the Joint Secretary of the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) in 2013. The duo of Ganguly-Shah will continue to hold their respective roles until the Supreme Court's decision. 

Significantly, BCCI's plea in the top court has sought six major changes in the Lodha Committee's recommendations implemented, along with the extension of Ganguly and Shah. 

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Meanwhile, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly made his first public appearance on Tuesday after undergoing a second round of angioplasty. Ganguly took part in the Saraswati Puja at his wife Dona Ganguly's classical dance school Dikhsha Manjari in Kolkata. Last month, the 48-year-old cricket legend was hospitalised for the second time in a month due to his cardiac condition. Two stents were implanted during the surgery conducted by a team of doctors, including noted cardiologist Dr Devi Shetty and Dr Ashwin Mehta. 

On the other hand, BCCI Secretary Jay Shah has been appointed as the President of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and has already taken over his new role while he awaits the Supreme Court's decision.  The 24-member association ACC was earlier headed by Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) chief Nazmul Hussain. 

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