Sourav Ganguly proposing reversal changes unfortunate: Lodha

New Delhi : Justice (retd) RM Lodha expressed his disappointment of Sourav Ganguly's decision to change the constitution of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

On December 1, the Ganguly-led board, in its first Annual General Meeting after the reforms and with a new elected body, suggested major amendments to the constitution adopted last year - principal among them doing away with a “cooling-off” period of three years after six years as an office-bearer; diluting conflict of interest clauses on the grounds that they were “impractical”; and giving powers to the board secretary than the CEO.

Speaking exclusively to the Hindustan Times in an interview, justice Lodha called the move as 'unfortunate'.

“It’s very unfortunate. I thought a cricketer at the helm of affairs will understand that it was only our reforms which brought him to this position,” Lodha said. “If the earlier system was in vogue, perhaps no cricketer could have ever dreamt of heading a body like the BCCI. The way the politics is played in cricket administration, I don’t think any cricketer would have been able to get this position but for these reforms.”

Speaking over the participation of kins of the former members of BCCI in the sports body, he said, "As citizens, they are not debarred from contesting the elections,” he said. “They have come through the process, therefore I would not say there is any breach of statute or legal provision. They have exercised their right and come through the legal process."