Niranjan Shah stands 100% disqualified, says Lodha Panel secretary

What’s the story?

Gopal Sankaranarayan, secretary of the Lodha Panel, said that 73-year old Niranjan Shah should not be permitted to be a part of any official activity of the BCCI. In his conversation with Cricketnext, he said that the Supreme Court has made it clear that no one above 70 years of age should be a part of the BCCI panel.

“The Supreme Court had stated clearly that anyone over the age of 70 shall not be permitted to continue. In fact, Kapil Sibal had brought up former BCCI chief N Srinivasan’s case and the court made it clear that he was disqualified. So, the same rule applies for Niranjan Shah,” he said.

In case you didn’t know...

Shah has been included in the special committee formed by the BCCI to oversee the reforms suggested by the Lodha Committee, which was appointed by the Supreme Court to ensure transparent and smooth functioning of the cricketing infrastructure in India.

Opposing the age-limit proposition by the committee, Shah said that age should not be the parameter for appointing BCCI officials. He used the example of India’s president, who is 81 years old, to further his point.

The details

Sankaranarayan also said that forming a committee to look over the Lodha reforms defies logic in itself.

He also stated that it is no longer about the Lodha panel, expressing his confusion over a committee being formed to look into the judgement of the Supreme Court.

What’s next?

The special committee will have a total of seven members. Its first session is scheduled to be held today (July 1). Former IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla is also a member of the same.

The committee comprising of Shukla (chairman), Amitabh Choudhary (convener), Sourav Ganguly, TC Mathew, Naba Bhattacharjee, Jay Shah, Anirudh Chaudhry and Shah will give its first recommendation soon.

The deadline for the same is July 9 and the Supreme Court is set to rule on these recommendations on July 14.

Author’s take

The BCCI and the Lodha Panel have had fissures between them ever since the latter was appointed by the Supreme Court. The Indian cricket fan would now hope that this case is closed as soon as possible so as to end a controversial and inconsistent chapter in Indian cricket.