Hearing on Azhar's petition put off again

A civil court in Hyderabad on Monday posted to November 26 the hearing on the main petition filed by former India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin, challenging the life ban imposed on him by Board of Control for Cricket in India for his alleged involvement in the match-fixing scandal.

Second additional judge J Shyamsundar Rao adjourned the case after Azhar's senior counsel T Jagdeesh sought time to go through the court's October 17 order, directing his client to strike off certain allegations in his main suit against former BCCI president A C Muthiah and BCCI inquiry commissioner K Madhavan.

When the judge sought to know why Azhar failed to file his amended plaint, the counsel said he received a copy of the 28-page order only on Friday and asked for more time to study it before proceeding with a future course of action.

Moreover, the counsel told the court that there is no need to file the amended plaint since he is contemplating seeking suspension of the order itself. The counsel insisted that the court in the meantime could hold arguments on the main suit seeking revocation of the ban on Azhar.

The former skipper, who was critical of the life ban slapped on him by the BCCI, in his main petition had questioned the appointment and method of inquiry by Madhavan, terming his probe, which formed the basis for initiating action against him (Azhar), as 'malicious, illegal, arbitrary and biased' and sought the inquiry report to be treated as 'null and void'.

He also questioned the competitiveness of then BCCI president Muthiah, saying "he, being an industrialist, suffers from lack of experience or knowledge of the game".

Mail Cricket Editor