BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah on Wednesday received a short breather to continue in their respective posts at least till the beginning of next year as the Supreme Court deferred hearing on the board’s plea to waive the three-year cooling-off period for office-bearers in view of the draft amendments to its constitution.

A bench of Justice L. Nageswara Rao, Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Ajay Rastogi adjourned the hearing to the third week of January 2021, while disposing of a batch of interlocutory applications moved by various state cricket associations.

The associations had moved different applications for disbursal of funds for various projects as the top court had earlier ruled that they cannot expend the money without first adhering to the Justice R.M. Lodha Committee’s recommendation for suitable reforms in their constitutions to ensure transparency in their working.

Technically Sourav’s and Shah’s tenures as president and secretary had ended earlier this year. But the duo continued on an ad hoc basis pending a decision of the board’s earlier application in the apex court for approving the amended constitution which sought to waive the three-year cooling period fixed by the Lodha committee.

However, since the top court did not deal with the application, the duo can now continue till the third week of January when the court may take up the issue.

All office-bearers who have held positions for six consecutive years, be it in the BCCI or state associations, have to undergo a mandatory three-year cooling-off period.