HCA Dispute : Supreme Court Refuses To Entertain Former Indian Cricket Team Captain Mohd Azharuddin’s Plea Against HC’s Contempt Notice

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra was reluctant to admit Azharuddin’s petition at this stage since the high court had only issued a contempt notice, despite his counsel vehemently urging the court to take the matter on board. “This plea is only against the notice. Have you been held guilty of contempt?” Justice Gavai asked the counsel.

No, the counsel replied.

“Thank you,” the judge said firmly, “Go and file a reply in the high court.”

The counsel then informed the bench that a writ petition was pending before a coordinate bench of the Telangana High Court and prayed for them to be heard together. “If Your Lordships could permit me to do this, I'd be grateful,” the counsel said.

“Make a request before the chief justice,” Justice Gavai instructed, before pronouncing:

“Allowed to withdraw with liberty to apply before CJ for consolidation of contempt petition with writ petition. If such an application is made, same would be considered in accordance with law.”

Background

Nalgonda District Cricket Association had filed a petition before the Telangana High Court in 2021 to direct the Hyderabad Cricket Association to allow them to participate in a two-day league for 2021-22, which was allowed by the Telangana High Court. In a connected matter, the district association had filed a plea urging the court to direct not only the HCA and then-president Mohammed Azharuddin, but also the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to implement the 2018 orders by ombudsman and former judge Narasimha Reddy. In terms of the order, the district association contended that they were entitled to all benefits as an affiliated member of the Hyderabad Cricket Association which included participating in all meetings, matches, and tournaments.

In this matter, the counsel on behalf of Mohd Azharuddin told the high court that the Nalgonda association was permitted to participate in all the tournaments being conducted under the aegis of the Hyderabad Cricket Association, even during the current season of 2022-23. Last year, after recording this statement, the court directed the Nalgonda Association to be permitted to take part in all the tournaments during the current year’s cricket season.

After this, the district association filed a contempt case in 2023 alleging deliberate and wilful disobedience of the 2022 orders of the Telangana High Court, on the strength of which a bench of Justice T Vinod Kumar issued a contempt notice to Azharuddin seeking his personal appearance.

In February last year, the Supreme Court had directed the conduct of elections in the Hyderabad Cricket Association under the monitoring of former judge Justice L Nageswara Rao, which brought an end to the tenure of Azharuddin as its president.

Case Details

Mohd Azharuddin v. Nalgonda Cricket Association & Ors. | Diary No. 26604 of 2023