N Srinivasan, Niranjan Shah cannot attend BCCI meetings, says Supreme Court

What’s the story?

The Supreme Court of India has once again decided to step up and this time it has specifically come down hard on former BCCI president N Srinivasan and Niranjan Shah and has barred them attending the BCCI SGM meeting on July 26.

The Apex Court clipped the wings of both Srinivasan and Shah as it passed an order in which it was specifically mentioned that only the office bearers of the state associations would be eligible to attend the BCCI SGM.

The Details

This verdict was passed after it had sought a response from both Srinivasan and Shah after the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators had expressed their displeasure over the conduct of the aforementioned people in the SGM and how both Srinivasan and Shah tried to hijack the meeting by blocking the Lodha reforms.

However, both the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) and the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) maintained that Srinivasan and Shah were eligible to attend the meetings as they were not office bearers but merely representatives of the respective boards.

Srinivasan and Shah also complained that CoA head Vinod Rai had been targeting them at all times.

In case you didn’t know...

The CoA had earlier submitted a status report in which came down heavily on both Srinivasan and Shah for trying to 'hijack' the meetings and for not allowing other members to voice their opinions.

They had also mentioned that the duo had their own vested interests and this did not allow the BCCI to look for a middle ground, which would have been the best possible step going forward.

What's next?

After this statement of the Supreme Court, it would be interesting what the BCCI and the CoA conjure up during the next scheduled SGM on July 26.

It has to be mentioned here that the SC has already asked the BCCI to accept the Lodha Panel suggestions as far as possible in the July 26 SGM.

Author's Take

The BCCI has already dawdled enough and has been sitting on the Lodha recommendations for well over a year and considering these many 'obstacles' it is very hard to see any viable result coming out soon, even during the July 26 SGM meet.

However, with the CoA and the Supreme Court trying to find the working path for the BCCI, there is some semblance of positivity floating around. However, it will all depend on what the Indian board wants.

Another Supreme Court intervention cannot be ruled out!