Friday, Apr 24, 2026

High Court sets aside order suspending HCA Apex Council

John Manoj group announces start of new cricket season from today

By Telangana Today

Updated On - 7 July 2021, 07:15 PM

High Court sets aside order suspending HCA Apex Council — VICTORY: The Apex Council members (left to right): Surender Agarwal, R Vijayanand, John Manoj and Naresh Sharma addressing the press meet on Wednesday

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Wednesday intervened in the ongoing Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) controversy and set aside the order of the Ombudsman suspending the Apex Council members. Acting quickly on the High Court order, ‘interim president’ John Manoj and his group announced the commencement of the new cricket season from Thursday.

With the two-day drama coming to an end for now, John Manoj termed it as a big loss of face for president Mohammed Azharuddin. “The High Court set aside Justice (Retd) Deepak Verma’s order on disqualification. It is a victory for the game and the institution,” a jubilant Manoj remarked at a press conference at the Uppal Stadium.

“He had no business interrupting the game and in a high-handed manner announced the T20 tournament. He even tried to delegate powers to nominated members of the Apex Council. How can a government nominee from CAG become a treasurer and how come players’ representatives become a vice-president or joint secretary, or he (Azharuddin) having a dual role as president and secretary. He went against the law,” said Manoj.

Earlier, Ombudsman Justice (Retd) Deepak Verma had temporarily disqualified vice-president John Manoj, secretary R Vijayanand, joint secretary Naresh Sharma, treasurer Surender Agarwal and councillor P Anuradha. The Apex Council members were prevented from entering the Gymkhana Ground on July 5 and the next day Azharuddin announced the conduct of the Tiger T20 Cup. He also warned the players not to play in the three-day league. “This is not the way a president should function. He hardly attends the Apex Council meetings and then says the council is illegal. The sad part is that they locked our offices at the Uppal Stadium. We need not stoop to this level.”

Asked whether there will be any reconciliation, Manoj maintained that efforts were made but in vain. “We tried but he ignored that. Now it is an order. He remains suspended.”

“We will now focus on cricket because young cricketers should not suffer due to this infighting. They were put into an emotional trauma. A precedent should not be set like this in future. The warning to cricketers was uncalled for. Threatening the players that they will be disqualified if they play in the three-day league was shameful. We are elected by the members of the association. We are not holding any illegal tournaments and are conducting the leagues.”

The interim president said they had prepared a roadmap wherein after five matches they wanted to conduct T20 matches because the BCCI will conduct the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament in October. “What is the hurry to conduct the T20 now? The players need some practice before getting into the groove. We are thinking of inviting teams from the neighbouring States for the T20 tournament to prepare our team for the new domestic season,” Manoj said.