Saurashtra Cricket Association in Hot Water over Nepotism & Diverting of Funds

The secretary of the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA), the state charity commissioner and the chairman and electoral officer of BCCI were issued a notice by the Gujarat High Court on Thursday.

The notice was sent while acting on a public interest litigation filed by Nikhil Rathod from Rajkot, a former first-class player that alleges “nepotism, misuse of power, lack of transparency by office-bearers of the state association and non-compliance of Lodha Commission recommendations.”

Rathod also stated in his petition that of the more than 300 members who have been a part of the SCA since it existed in 1984, most have been family members, relatives and friends of former SCA president Niranjan Shah, who has also held posts in BCCI.



He further stated that following initiation of litigation in the Supreme Court, SCA passed a resolution in 2013-2014 whereby “all the children of the existing members were given life membership whether they are involved in cricketing activities or not.”

It is worth noting that the current SCA president is Niranjan’s son, Jaydev Shah and that Niranjan’s nephew holds the post of secretary, according to the petitioner.

The petitioner also claimed that elections were not held for more than 20 years and that Niranjan is “manipulating the procedure by appointing the existing governing body members by rotation.”

He also highlighted that the association was both diverting funds and also not compliant with the Lodha reforms.