Telangana HC nullifies Hyderabad Cricket Association obudsman's 'one-sided' decisions

HYDERABAD: The ongoing tussle in Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) has taken an interesting turn with the Telangana High Court suspending various decisions taken by the controversial ombudsman and retired Supreme Court judge Deepak Verma which included disqualifying all office bearers opposed to president Mohd Azharuddin.

The High Court also made an observation that the very appointment of Justice (retd) Verma was “only a unilateral decision” taken by Azhar and the “validity of said appointment is sub judice in the Supreme Court.” Following the High Court order, serious doubts were raised against continuance of Azhar as president because one of the decisions taken by Verma was nullifying the resolution passed by other office bearers removing the former Indian skipper as president of HCA.

“We passed a resolution suspending Azhar as president which was set aside by the ombudsman which in turn was suspended by the High Court,” HCA secretary R Vijayanand told this newspaper. “The apex council of the association will study the HC order in detail and take necessary action,” he added.

The war for one-upmanship in the HCA turned ugly with the rival groups suspending each other from the executive posts. It all started with Azhar declaring the appointment of Justice (retd) Verma as ombudsman even without the annual general meeting (AGM) approving of the same. Azhar left the meeting following stiff resistance from the members who later passed a resolution appointing Justice (retd) Nisar Ahmed Kukru as ombudsman and Justice (retd) Meena Kumari as ethics officer. As many as 107 members out of 180 took part in the AGM supported the appointment of the two former judges.

The situation further deteriorated when the office bearers were prevented by Azhar with the help of police from entering the HCA office in Uppal cricket stadium. The aggrieved office bearers suspended Azhar as president and appointed John Manoj as acting president. The Azhar-appointed ombudsman not only nullified the decision of other office bearers, he went on to disqualify the office bearers opposed to Azhar.

 Dealing with a petition filed by John Manoj against the ombudsman’s order, a single bench headed by Justice T Amarnath Goud made an observation that serious allegations were levelled against the ombudsman that he was acting in a biased manner and protecting Azhar. Despite requests made by the office bearers to furnish copies of complaints filed against them, the ombudsman did not furnish copies. “It is violative of principles of natural justice,” said Justice Goud.

Further, the HC also observed that Justice (retd) Verma held that the office bearers were acting with mala fides but his order had not dealt with the issue of mala fide to come to a conclusion against the office bearers. “The order (of ombudsman) and the counter affidavit do not disclose the details of compliance of principles of natural justice,” the HC pointed out.