Jithin Paul verdict ready, says NADA

The order on the suspended 400m hurdler will be announced in a few days.

Jithin Paul (left) had been banned for four years by the ADDP.

The appeals panel of the National Anti-Doping Agency is ready with its order on suspended 400m hurdler Jithin Paul but will announce it in a few days.

Paul had appealed against the verdict of the Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel (ADDP), which had suspended him for four years after meldonium, a banned substance, was found in his room at the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala, on April 17, 2017. The ADDP panel had passed its verdict in February this year after concluding that Paul had “no reasonable justification for possession of the prohibited substance in his room.”

Verdict ‘available’

Paul had then appealed against the verdict to the appeals panel (ADAP), which had concluded the last of its series of hearing on June 14. “The ADAP panel comprising Justice R. V. Easwar, Dr. Navin Dang and Vinay Lamba are ready with their order but Justice Easwar had some commitments on July 17 when the verdict was to be announced. But he is available now and it will come out any moment,” a NADA source told PTI on Friday.

In case the ADAP upholds the ADDP decision, Paul’s sentence will be counted from the period of his provisional suspension, ie, from May 22, 2017.