Kale appeal against 'illegal and mala fide' suspension begins

Abhijit Kale's attempts to get the suspension imposed on him by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) overturned began a city court at Pune this morning with his lawyers arguing that the board's decision was "illegal and mala fide".

Kale's legal representative, Manoj Wadekar, asked the district court to suspend the BCCI's ruling until the full inquiry, which is due to start on Saturday, has delivered its findings. "I am not asking for a stay against the inquiry," Wadekar said. "All I am asking for is a stay against the suspension order as it is an invasion of civil rights. Kale was selected as vice-captain to play Ranji Trophy matches and he has every right to do so."

Meanwhile, DV Subbarao, who is heading the board's inquiry into the issue, clarified that the probe would only be restricted to the three people involved in this case - Kale and the two selectors - and that the scope of the inquiry would not include other allegations which have been made about similar cases over the past few days. Rao stated that all three people would be called to Visakhapatnam for the hearings.

Meanwhile, Vanka Pratap, a former India A player who made an allegation of corruption against the selectors, has landed in trouble too, with the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) issuing a show-cause notice to him. M Ranga Reddy, the HCA president, said: "HCA emergency executive meeting has decided to issue a show cause notice on Vanka Pratap to give an explanation within three days on the charges he made against selectors. The cricketer (Vanka) should explain as to what exactly he means by the allegations levelled on HCA."

With the grapevine suggesting that the selector in question had been Shivlal Yadav, SK Nair, BCCI secretary, clarified that he would not be recalled from Australia, where he is the manager of the Indian team. "We have an emergency meeting of the working committee in Delhi on November 30. We will discuss other aspects of the controversy and take decisions," he said, leaving the door open for further speculation.

Meanwhile, Jaywant Lele, one of Nair's predecessors as BCCI secretary, suggested that Kale would emerge unscathed from the ordeal. "After the inquiry by the one-man commission, [Kiran] More and [Pranab] Roy will no longer be selectors," he said. "This is not the first time such a thing has happened and this will not be the last either ... this bribery issue is totally bogus as I personally think that someone like Kale cannot afford such a huge amount."