Jadeja is content, his lawyer is happy

Former India star Ajay Jadeja today said he was quite content with proceedings in the Delhi high court. Earlier in the day, the court in the person of Justice Vijender Jain heard his petition seeking to overturn the ban imposed on him by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and issued notices to the concerned parties.

Jadeja, however, refused to talk about the proceedings, contenting himself with obliging hundreds of autograph hunters who thronged the courthouse. "These are the people who have been praying for me," he said. "Whatever I am today is because of them."

His advocate, R K Anand, however took time to answer questions posed to him. When asked if he was disappointed that the court had not issued any stay order against the showcause notice issued to his client by the ministry of sports, Anand said he could always move the court again if needed. "If the Government of India decides to withdraw his Arjuna award, we can always move the court.We are sending a reply to the showcause notice issued by the ministry, in any case," the noted criminal lawyer said.

Asked whether he would be co-ordinating his efforts with the case filed in Hyderabad by former captain Mohammed Azharuddin, Anand said, "The two cases are totally different. I do not know what grounds Azhar has cited. My contention is simply that my client has been deprived of his fundamental right to live with dignity, and his right to earn his livelihood, and this is the case I am fighting."

Earlier, Anand argued his case for over an hour and a half before Justice Jain. The main thrust of his argument was that the BCCI had no authority to appoint former CBI chief K Madhavan as commissioner, since there was no provision to make such an appointment under the rules of the organisation. "Madhavan was appointed on August 29, 2000, when BCCI had no authority to do so," Anand argued. "The board amended the rules later."

Anand contended in his argument that the procedure adopted by the BCCI, the report submitted by Madhavan, its consideration by the special general body meeting and the disciplinary committee, and the decision to ban Jadeja from all forms of cricket, indicated that it was pre-planned, and aimed at punishing scapegoats.

For his part, BCCI counsel Kapil Sibal said that to see today's proceedings as a victory for Jadeja was like signalling a six without a ball being bowled. "All that has happened is that we have been given a copy of the petition and asked to respond in four weeks time. We will rebut the petitioner's arguments," Sibal added.

CBI officials, approached for comment, said they were watching developments, but had no comment to make at this point in time.

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