The Board of Control for Cricket in India said news reports that former India all-rounder Ajay Jadeja has been cleared of match-fixing charges by the Delhi high court are totally incorrect.
Speaking to rediff.com, Radha Rangaswamy, advocate for the BCCI in the Delhi high court, alleged that Jadeja and his advocate, Vineet Malhotra, have been planting misleading information in the media about the verdict of the arbitrator.
"I have seen the stories appearing on rediff.com about Ajay Jadeja being given a clean chit by the Delhi high court in the match-fixing case. I would like to correct this erroneous impression," Rangaswamy said.
She claimed that Jadeja had withdrawn his petition against the BCCI challenging his ban and he and the Board had agreed to appoint an arbitrator to sort out the issue.
"Consequently Justice J K Mehra, a retired Delhi high court judge, was appointed arbitrator on the 30th of October, 2002. Whatever are the findings are the findings of the arbitrator and not that of the Delhi high court. The BCCI has time till 90 days to appeal against the order. Till that time the order of the arbitrator is not enforceable," she said.
In case Jadeja files a contempt petition in the Delhi high court, then the order would not be enforceable till the petition is decided, she added.
When contacted, Malhotra said advocates for the BCCI have been playing hide and seek with his client. He refuted Rangaswamy's claim that the order of the arbitrator is not enforceable till 90 days from the day it was issued.
"There is no truth in the claims made by the BCCI's advocates. The arbitrator was appointed with the consent of the Delhi high court and, hence, any order passed by the arbitrator has legal sanction. Besides, this is not a case in which some monetary transaction has to take place. The order became valid from the day it was delivered," Malhotra told rediff.com.
Asked if he would move a contempt petition against the BCCI in the Delhi high court, he said he is examining the legal issues involved and would take a decision along with his senior colleagues.
He said the junior functionaries of the Delhi and District Cricket Association, who prevented Jadeja from playing a league match on Thursday, may not have been aware of the developments at the higher level.
