Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Monday stamped out Mohammed Azharuddin’s plea to run for Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) presidency.
The former Indian cricket captain pleaded to be added to the voter’s list to be able to file a nomination for the upcoming election, scheduled for October 20.
However, the court did not pass any order in favour of Azharuddin and adjourned the matter till October 31.
The HCA elections are scheduled to be held on October 20.
SC order on Azharuddin’s case
A bench headed by justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia highlighted that people in the sporting bodies want to perpetuate themselves or someone from their family.
The bench pointed out that Azharuddin’s name was struck off the voter’s list because he was disqualified for violation of the norms since he was found to be president of the Deccan Blues Club.
His name was removed after the SC-appointed administrator issued orders barring Azharuddin from contesting in the upcoming HCA elections.
The disqualification had followed the July 30 order of the administrator ousting the errant office-bearers of 57 affiliated clubs, including the Deccan Blues Club, from either voting or contesting in the upcoming HCA elections.
Nevertheless, the former captain of the Indian cricket team claimed that his disqualification was triggered by a ‘forged’ document furnished by the Deccan Blues Club and that he never consented to be the president of the club.
However, the SC bench said somebody else should be given a chance and now that the voter’s list has been finalised, they did not want to upset the election schedule.
“We want this election to take place according to the schedule. Your plea will amount to modifying the members list and we won’t do anything like that,” held the judges.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal lamented that his client had no idea about his name being there as the president of another club. But the bench refused to believe him.
Azharuddin was appointed HCA president in 2019 but his term ended with Justice Rao’s appointment in February this year.
It was impacted by rampant infighting within the HCA Apex Council and court cases with the members managing or owning multiple clubs affiliated with the Association also emerged as a major issue of contention.
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