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Azhar challenges ban in AP High Court
Jan 12, 2001, 17:45 Hrs (IST)

Mumbai: Mohammed Azharuddin has at last hit back by challenging the life ban imposed on him by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report indicted him in the match fixing episode, in the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

However, the question whether this petition would stand the test in the High Court is still not known. The Attorney General of India Mr Soli Sorabjee had expressed an opinion that the life ban imposed on Azharuddin cannot be challenged in court.

Mr Jaywant Lele, secretary of the BCCI, speaking from Baroda asked how the players could deny their connections with the bookmakers.

The CBI report had proved that there was a nexus between the players and bookmakers. The code of conduct framed by the BCCI states that there should be no connection between the players and bookmakers. Since the players violated the code we slapped the ban on them, Mr Lele said.

Mr Lele said that though the nexus may not be a cognizable offence, it is enough for a ban, which they have imposed, adding that the BCCI had taken written opinion from legal luminaries like Kapil Sibal, Ashok Singhal before proceeding with the ban.

Mumbai Advocates opined that it is well within the Board's right to impose life ban on any player if they felt that a particular player had violated any terms of contract with them.

A Mumbai advocate Satish Maneshinde, however, was noncommittal about Azharuddin's chances of winning the writ petition. He suggested that if Azhar has got disproportionate income than his legal earnings, he can be grilled in the court of law and forced to explain the source.

Another criminal counsel, P R Vakil felt that Azhar does not have a legal leg to stand on to challenge the ban. The maintainability of a writ petition in this case is very much in doubt. A writ petition lies only against a state or a statutory body appointed by the state government, and the BCCI is neither, he added.

Mr Vakil felt that the best legal remedy available for Azharuddin is to file a suit for defamation on the grounds that his reputation had been harmed in the eyes of the public and is likely to be harmed further by the ban.

UNI