Azharuddin loses court case to overturn life ban

Mohammad Azharuddin has lost his latest appeal against his life ban for match-fixing. A Hyderabad court today ruled against his plea to return to first-class cricket after his three years in the cold.

Dasaramaiah, a chief judge of the city civil court, pronounced the judgment, and T Jagadish, Azhar's lawyer, responded by saying, "we are yet to receive a copy of the judgment and cannot comment on the grounds under which the suit has been dismissed."

Azharuddin and his lawyers filed the suit in January 2001 after his life ban was imposed in December 2000. His legal team initially argued that the Indian cricket board was not empowered to appoint a commission of inquiry, and that the investigations were "malicious, illegal and arbitrary - and biased in favour of the BCCI."

However, A. Venkatesh, a BCCI lawyer, said: "As things stand, our ban on Azharuddin stands," adding that Azharuddin had the option of taking the case to a higher court, which his lawyers confirmed they would be doing.