Azharuddin not allowed to stand for HCA elections

Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin has been disqualified from contesting for the post of HCA president after his nomination papers were rejected by returning officer K Rajiv Reddy on Saturday.

Uncertainty over whether Azharuddin's life ban imposed by the BCCI had been lifted, and whether he was classified as an HCA voter, resulted in his disqualification.

"(He had not given) a satisfactory explanation whether the BCCI ban on him in the wake of the match-fixing scandal was not lifted and that he failed to provide adequate proof that he was enrolled as a voter," Reddy told the Hindu.

Azharuddin said he wasn't given a reason for the decision. "Right from the beginning, I think the process looked to me a little bit fraud. I gave them the court order also," Azharuddin said. "People are misinformed. I think things should be put to rest. Court has given an order which has cleared me of everything.

"The returning officer should answer my questions, but he is not present. I will go for a legal case. I think the Lodha Committee rules and orders are not followed at the HCA."

Azharuddin was banned for life after being found guilty of fixing matches in an investigation conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Azharuddin's initial attempts of challenging the ban were unsuccessful, but in 2012, a division bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court ruled the BCCI ban illegal.

Azharuddin, who filed his nomination papers representing the National Cricket Club on Tuesday morning, had said he didn't "foresee any issue" with the BCCI ban.