Supreme Court to hear Sreesanth's appeal against life ban enforced by BCCI

The life ban was restored on Sreesanth following the petition filed by BCCI.

S Sreesanth | Getty

The Supreme Court has decided to hear the plea of S Sreesanth after the scandal-hit India speedster challenged a Kerala High Court verdict on restoring the life ban imposed on him by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in the wake of the 2013 IPL spot-fixing saga.

"Let the appeal be listed for final hearing after eight weeks," a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud quoted as saying by PTI.

Sreesanth had earlier told the court that the life ban was a severely harsh punishment. However, the BCCI had said the case against Sreesanth was "open and shut" as telephonic conversations had revealed he had taken money for bowling 'no balls' during a 2013 IPL match.

Sreesanth was given a chance to resume his cricketing career in August 2017 after the Kerala High Court lifted the ban on him. However, the decision didn’t go down well with the BCCI as they filed a petition against a single-judge bench's order. 

Consequently, a division bench of the Kerala High Court, comprising of Chief Justice Navaniti Prasad Singh and Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan reinstated the life ban on the Kerala pacer in October 2017.

The division bench had stated that there was no breach of natural justice against Sreesanth.

BCCI’s affidavit challenging the decision of Kerala High Court said: "The decision of the sessions court to acquit the petitioner from the criminal charges has no impact whatsoever on the decision of the internal disciplinary committee of the BCCI to ban the petitioner from playing cricket tournaments organised by the BCCI and/or its affiliates."

(With PTI inputs)

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 28 Aug, 2018

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