Supreme Court appoints senior advocate Maninder Singh as amicus curiae in BCCI case

The Supreme Court on Thursday appointed senior advocate and former Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh as amicus curiae in order to assist in a case relating to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli pointed out that the earlier amicus curiae P S Narasimha was not available any more, as he has been elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court.

The court was hearing a plea by the BCCI seeking approval to amend the rules of the board’s constitution.

“We have to hear the amicus also,” the bench said, nominating Singh as the new amicus curiae.

The court fixed the matter for hearing on July 28.

The BCCI sought amendment in its Constitution --- prepared on the recommendation of the Justice R M Lodha committee --- to waive off cooling off period for the office bearers.

The tenure of Sourav Ganguly as BCCI president and Jay Shah, as secretary, will end in September 2022. Currently, their tenure is technically under extension since the court has not conducted a hearing on the plea for amendment of the rules.

The Lodha committee had mandated a three-year cooling off, after six years in the position for an office bearer, either at the state level or the BCCI.

During an AGM in December 2019, the BCCI proposed six amendments, including one in Rule 6 of the Constitution, which had barred BCCI and state board office bearers from holding office for more than six consecutive years.