The Supreme Court-appointed committee has disqualified former Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin from contesting the upcoming elections for the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA). This decision was made because Azharuddin was serving as the president of the Deccan Blues Cricket Club while also being the president of HCA earlier this year.
Former Supreme Court judge Justice L. Nageswara Rao removed Azharuddin from the voter list for the HCA polls based on a conflict of interest. This decision was made in accordance with an order passed on July 31, 2023. A letter was sent to Azharuddin explaining that he was disqualified as he was the president of the Deccan Blues Cricket Club.
On September 30, 2022, the supervisory committee appointed by the Supreme Court had requested Azharuddin to collect information about all registered clubs that are members of the HCA. In a letter dated October 10, 2022, it was shown that Azharuddin was the president of the Deccan Blues Cricket Club.
The HCA elections were initially scheduled for September 2022 but were postponed due to court cases. The elections are now set to take place on October 20. In February of this year, Nageswara Rao was appointed as a single-member committee to manage the HCA and oversee the elections.
In July, Nageswara Rao disqualified over 57 clubs from participating in the HCA elections for three years due to conflicts of interest or owning multiple clubs. On August 7, he appointed former Chief Election Commissioner Sampath as the election officer.
Azharuddin served as the HCA president from 2019 until Nageswara Rao’s appointment. His term was marked by internal conflicts within the HCA, leading to legal battles in the Telangana High Court. Ultimately, the matter reached the Supreme Court, which appointed the one-member committee to resolve the issues. Azharuddin had already announced his intention to run for the position of HCA president again.
