High Court Shocks HCA President G Vivek, Removes Him

Telangana government advisor G Vivekanand received a shock from the Hyderabad High Court today.

The High Court upheld the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) ombudsman's verdict that Vivek was not eligible for the HCA's president post.

A division bench of the court granted a stay on a single bench verdict in regard to Vivek saying that there was a need for a comprehensive inquiry into the issue, and that till then Vivek should not to continue as HCA president.

The elections to the HCA have been receiving severe flak since they were held in 2017. Several questioned the legitimacy of Vivek, who was enjoying a state government cabinet rank position, being elected as president of HCA. The ombudsman received plenty of complaints over Vivek's election. Former HCA president Arshad Ayub, former secretary K John Manoj, former India cricket team captain Mohammed Azharuddin, former MP V Hanumantha Rao and several others lodged complaints.

The complaints were that according to the Justice Lodha recommendations Vivek was ineligible for the HCA president's post. He is also an owner of Visakha Industries, and is waging a fight against the HCA in the High Court over sponsorhip in the Uppal stadium. He therefore faced severe criticism when he filed his nomination for the post of HCA president last year. The returning officer Rajiv Reddy kept the allegations aside and accepted the nomination papers. But the ombudsman gave a verdict three months back sacking Vivek following the Lodha reforms, resulting in the issue reaching the courts.