HYDERABAD: Ombudsman Justice (retd) Deepak Verma on Sunday ‘temporarily disqualified’ five apex council members of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) — vice-president K John Manoj, secretary R Vijayanand, joint secretary Naresh Sharma, treasurer Surender Agarwal and councillor P Anuradha. He also quashed the suspension of Mohammed Azharuddin and directed him to continue as president of the cricket body.
“I would like to make it clear that, just because these five members believe on their own accord that I am not ombudsman does not take away my powers which have now been confirmed by the HC judgment and the minutes of the 85th AGM as well. These members cannot evade the due process of law just by stating that they don’t agree to my appointment.
It is clear from the above, that these members have malafide intentions and do not want smooth functioning of HCA. It for this reason and reasons mentioned above, I hereby direct that these members are temporarily disqualified from performing their duties as office bearers of the apex council till the time these complaints attain finality. These complaints will finally be decided after conducting an online hearing within three weeks from now. The exact date and details of the online hearing shall be provided in due course,” Justice Verma wrote in his 16-page order.
Justice Verma also defended his appointment as ombudsman. “The high court order and the minutes of 85th AGM make it clear that I am ombudsman of HCA and will remain the same till the time any superior court of law stays the same or passes an adverse order to that effect. Therefore, the plea taken by the five members that I am not to assume the powers of ombudsman is untenable and is incorrect,” he said.
The suspension of Azharuddin, Justice Verma said, has no legal validity. “As mentioned in Section 41 (1) (a) and Section 41 (1) (b) of the Constitution of HCA, any grievance, complaint or dispute has to be decided by referring the same to ombudsman. Since the said complaint against Azharuddin was not forwarded to ombudsman and in effect not decided by the ombudsman, the same has no legal validity. Apex council on its own accord cannot take such a decision.
“Therefore, I deem it appropriate to set aside the resolution (if any) passed by these five members in suspending the duly elected president, issuing a showcause notice and direct them to refrain from any subsequent actions against president of HCA Mohd Azharuddin. Therefore, I direct that Mohd Azharuddin shall continue as president and all complaints against the office-bearers shall only be decided by the ombudsman.
He also rapped the officials for indulging in ‘political games’. “From the aforesaid facts and features, it is clearly reflected that instead of encouraging the game of cricket, each one is playing their own politics for the reasons best known to them. Thus, it defeats the very purpose for which HCA has been formed.”
