In quite a literal sense, the scuffle between Mohammad Azharuddin and Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) took to the streets as HCA members held a meeting on the street on Sunday, 11 December, according to reports in the Times of India.
Why is Mohammad Azharuddin at loggerheads with the HCA?
Former captain of the Indian team, Azharuddin has been serving as the president of the HCA since September 2019. However, according to claims of the HCA members, his tenure ended on 26 September 2022, but Azharuddin is still forcibly clinging to power.
To remove the former cricketer from his position, HCA called a meeting on Sunday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, with the view of appointing an ombudsman and setting a time frame for the election to appoint a new president and apex committee.
What happened on Sunday?
The HCA members saw the stadium gates locked up upon their arrival at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium for the meeting. That, however, did not hinder the meeting, as the members conducted it on the streets outside the main gate of the stadium.
Key decisions taken:
It was unanimously decided that a new apex committee will be appointed via elections.
The election is likely to be held on 10 January.
Veeravalli Sundaram Sampath, who was the 18th Chief Justice of India and also the election officer during the 2019 HCA elections, will be the election officer this time around as well.
The election date will be formally announced by Sampath.
The Aftermath
The fracas dragged on even after the conclusion of the meeting. HCA members lodged a complaint against Azharuddin at the Uppal Police Station for not allowing them entry to the stadium. As per the allegations, the former captain had also intimidated the club secretaries via text messages.
What did Azharuddin say?
Before the meeting was held on the streets, Azharuddin had issued a statement on the HCA website, where he called the meeting ‘illegal' and 'lacking legal sanctity.'
“In this background, I am compelled to state that conducting a meeting without obtaining the permission of the Supervisory Committee is inherently illegal & does not have any sanctity. The connected matters have been brought to the Hon'ble High Court of Telangana & the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in different ways but no orders have been passed,” wrote Azharuddin.
"Rachakonda police has also issued an intimation that any requests for police bandobast for meetings in HCA must come along with a permission from the Supervisory Committee to hold such meetings. In view of the above, the meeting on December 11, 2022 is illegal & without legal sanctity & necessary preventive & precautionary action will be taken in this regard," the statement further read.
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