Supreme Court appoints Retd Justice Nageswara Rao to oversee HCA polls

Supreme Court on Tuesday appointed retired SC judge Justice L Nageswara Rao to begin and oversee the process of conducting the elections

Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Tuesday appointed retired SC judge Justice L Nageswara Rao to begin and oversee the process of conducting the elections for the Hyderabad Cricket Association and asked the members to extend all the support for him.

The term of the current association members ended in September last year and no elections were conducted since then while Mohammed Azharuddin continued to stay at the post.

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The court also noted that the term of the president Mohd Azhruddin is over and sought fresh elections to be conducted in a fair manner. The bench consisting Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Manoj Misra and Aravind Kumar sought the impasse surrounding the HCA elections to be sorted out soon.

“We are of the view that the impasse must come to an end and a fair election will be held. This Court is of the view that Justice Nageswara Rao, a retired judge of this Court, would be suitable to be appointed to head a single-member committee to sort out this mess,” the Court ordered.

“He can take all the assistance as needed. The expenses will be borne by the association. If the learned judge needs some directions from this Court, the matter can be placed before us for the limited purpose,” the order said.

The matter will be heard next on March 2, 2023. The apex court was hearing a case in which the association had earlier appointed former Supreme Court judge Justice Deepak Verma as its ombudsman and ethics officer.

The matter came to the top court after some State cricket clubs challenged a Telangana High Court order upholding Justice Verma’s appointment. On Tuesday, the bench was dealing with applications in the matter seeking timely conduct of polls.