Hiken Shah found guilty of corruption; suspended

Mumbai Ranji cricketer Hiken Shah has been found guilty of making a “corrupt approach” to a fellow player during the Indian Premier League cricket tournament and was on Monday suspended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) with immediate effect.

The BCCI said that Shah was found guilty of breaching the Board’s Anti-Corruption Code for participants and the matter was referred to its disciplinary committee for further action.

“BCCI would wish to inform that Mumbai Cricketer, Hiken Shah, has been suspended with immediate effect. He was found guilty of breaching BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Code for participants,” the BCCI said in a statement issued by Board Secretary Anurag Thakur. “His involvement in any form of cricket, affiliated with the BCCI stands suspended till the time the disciplinary committee of the BCCI passes appropriate orders,” it added.

The batsman, who is not part of any IPL team, has played 37 first-class matches for Mumbai and has 2160 runs at an average of 42.35. “Hiken Shah made a corrupt approach to one of his colleagues from first-class cricket, who is also a member of one of the IPL teams. The approached player immediately informed the incident to his franchise team. The franchise team followed the process of informing the incident to the <g data-gr-id="30" style="display: inline; color: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; -webkit-background-size: 0px 2px, 100% 2px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAA+gAAAACCAYAAADLlPadAAAABmJLR0QA/wD/AP+gvaeTAAAAK0lEQVRYhe3OMQEAIAwDsA6DHPh/ZoTJ2JMoSPW7PwAAAMCqsx0AAAAAkgHerQKHq3BtYQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==), url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAACCAYAAACZgbYnAAAABmJLR0QA/wD/AP+gvaeTAAAAEklEQVQImWP4vGvnfyYGBgYGABl4A2hm/SKhAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); background-size: 0px 2px, 100% 2px; background-position: 200% 100%, 0px 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat, no-repeat;">Anti Corruption</g> Unit of the BCCI,” the BCCI stated.

A source said that the player approached by Shah was Rajasthan Royals’ Pravin Tambe, who promptly took the matter to the BCCI. “Based on the information, BCCI President, Mr. Jagmohan Dalmiya, instructed ACU to conduct an immediate enquiry into the matter. After a detailed inquiry into the reported incident, the inquiry commissioner found Hiken Shah guilty of ‘committing breach of Articles 2.1.1; 2.1.2; and 2.1.4 of the BCCI Anti-Corruption Code for participants and recommended their provisions to the BCCI President’,” the Board stated. The news of a player being <g data-gr-id="33" style="display: inline; color: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; -webkit-background-size: 0px 2px, 100% 2px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAA+gAAAACCAYAAADLlPadAAAABmJLR0QA/wD/AP+gvaeTAAAAK0lEQVRYhe3OMQEAIAwDsA6DHPh/ZoTJ2JMoSPW7PwAAAMCqsx0AAAAAkgHerQKHq3BtYQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==), url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAACCAYAAACZgbYnAAAABmJLR0QA/wD/AP+gvaeTAAAAEklEQVQImWP4vGvnfyYGBgYGABl4A2hm/SKhAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); background-size: 0px 2px, 100% 2px; background-position: 200% 100%, 0px 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat, no-repeat;">approched</g> had come to light before the start of this year’s IPL. 

The BCCI had confirmed the incident but had not disclosed any names at that time. BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya said the action against Shah was part of the Board’s zero tolerance policy towards corruption. “BCCI has zero tolerance for corruption”.