Photo Credit: Facebook Photo of Adv. Ashish Shelar
Ashish Shelar’s appointment as a cabinet minister in the Maharashtra government will soon leave another position vacant in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
According to the BCCI constitution, Shelar, who has served as the board’s treasurer since October 2022, must relinquish his role in cricket administration as ministers are prohibited from holding positions in the board.
With Jay Shah transitioning to the International Cricket Council (ICC) as chairman, the BCCI secretary position is already unoccupied. For now, president Roger Binny has assigned the secretary’s duties to joint secretary Devajit Saikia until the post is “duly filled up as per the processes laid down in the BCCI rules and regulations.”
The BCCI constitution mandates that within 45 days of an elected office-bearer’s resignation, the board must convene a Special General Meeting (SGM) to elect a successor. With Shelar assuming his ministerial role, insiders suggest the president will need to call an SGM soon to hold elections for the vacant posts.
However, the BCCI leadership has remained silent on potential successors for both Shah and Shelar.
In 2016, the Supreme Court, while implementing the Lodha Committee recommendations, ruled that ministers and public servants—including MPs and MLAs—could not serve as BCCI administrators. At that time, Shelar, who was vice-president of the Mumbai Cricket Association, became ineligible to hold posts.
In September 2022, the Supreme Court allowed amendments to the BCCI constitution, permitting MPs and MLAs to join state associations and the BCCI, while retaining the restriction on ministers. This amendment enabled Shelar and MP Rajeev Shukla to return to the BCCI administration as treasurer and vice-president, respectively.
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Name of Author: Cricexec Staff
