King inquiry postponed again

South Africa's inquiry into cricket match-fixing has been postponed again after doubts were cast on Judge Edwin King's right to head the investigation.

The commission was due to resume its work on February 19.

But on Monday lawyers representing former captain Hansie Cronje, whose resignation sparked the inquiry, said they might attempt a challenge to King following a ruling in November in the Constitutional Court.

The court ruled that a judge cannot be the head of a Special Investigative Unit.

"I don't see why the finding ... does not mean that Judge King should head the Commission of Inquiry into match-fixing," Cronje's lawyer, Leslie Sackstein, told a newspaper on Monday.

Sackstein said he had written to the commission to ask them to consider the impact of the November decision.

In a statement Commission secretary Marina Valentine said the February 19 sitting had now been cancelled.

"Regardless of whether there is any merit in this view, the perception will have been created in the public mind that the proceedings of the commission under the chairmanship of Judge King may be unlawful," the statement said.

"This is an intolerable situation and it would be inappropriate for Judge King to continue the Commission until clarity has been obtained."

The judge in the Constitutional Court case was still active while King was retired when appointed.

"If he (Judge King) decides to go ahead, we will have to reserve our rights. We do not want to be part of something that turns out to be unconstitutional," Sackstein said.

The Cape High Court ruled in December against an attempt by King to impose January 24 as the date for hearings to resume, and awarded damages against the Commission.

Cronje was sacked in April after Indian police had accused him of being involved in match-fixing. He was banned for life by the South African cricket board in October but is trying to have the ban overturned.

Mail Cricket Editor