High Court acts on Jadeja's petition
Onkar Singh in New Delhi
The Delhi high court on Friday took up for hearing the writ petition of cricketer Ajay
Jadeja, challenging the order of the Board of Control for Cricket in
India banning him from playing cricket for the next five years and
holding any position in any of the cricketing bodies in the country.
After hearing the petition, Justice Vijender Jain issued
notices to the Union of India, through the secretary, sports; the BCCI;
K Madhavan, BCCI commissioner, anti-corruption; BCCI president and chairman of the disciplinary committee Dr A C Muthiah and others asking them to show cause why the petition should not be admitted.
The judge has asked all concerned to file
their replies within four weeks, and also given counsel for the petitioner, R K
Anand, two weeks after that date to file his rejoinder to the replies.
The matter will now come up on March 29 for hearing.
The judge refused to grant a stay against the showcause notice issued to
Jadeja by the ministry of sports under rule 17 of the Arjuna Award
conferment procedure.
Jadeja in his petition had asked the Delhi High Court to stay the
withdrawal of Arjuna awards by the Government of India, to which the
government counsel replied that they had only issued him a showcause
notice and had taken no decision regarding the withdrawal of the award.
Throughout the hearing, Jadeja was present in court. In fact, at one
stage he was sitting among sports scribes and legal correspondents who
had descended in large numbers to record the proceedings.
Noted constitutional lawyer Kapil Sibal accepted the notices on behalf
of the BCCI and other officials. He interjected many a time during the
hearing of arguments, while noted criminal lawyer R K Anand argued for
Jadeja.
The 762-page petition was read through by the learned counsel who also
cited several judgments to prove that the court did have the right to
intervene in this case and protect the right of Jadeja as a cricketer
who has been denied his fundamental right to live with dignity and earn his
livelihood through playing cricket.
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