Delhi High Court suspends DDCA decision to remove three Justice Mudgal-appointed selectors
The two-judge bench said the association’s move amounted to contempt of court and directed it to clear all the dues it owes playing cricketers within 48 hours.
The Delhi High Court on Monday suspended the Delhi District Cricket Association’s decision to remove the three selectors appointed by the Justice Mukul Mudgal observational committee, PTI reported. The court had formed the panel last year to oversee the DDCA’s functioning because of several alleged contentious decisions made by the body. The court-appointed observer had recommended the appointment of Maninder Singh, Atul Wassan and Nikhil Chopra as selectors for the cricketing body.
A bench comprising justices SR Bhat and Deepa Sharma said the DDCA had “crossed its limit” by removing the three selectors, even when the high court had reserved its order on the matter. It said the DDCA’s move amounted to contempt of court. “We think you [the DDCA] are testing everyone’s patience here…Evidently, somebody is over-reaching,” it said. The court has also asked the association to clear all the dues it owes playing cricketers within 48 hours, according to ANI.
Mudgal had moved the high court following the removals, seeking its direction to declare the DDCA’s decision “null and void”. “The act of removing the selectors unanimously by certain directors and the convener of the sports working committee [DDCA], without any approval from the selection panel formed by me or by the Delhi High Court is only aimed to scuttle the domestic season,” Mudgal said. The DDCA had opposed the appointments citing conflict of interest.