Cricket racial row echoes in Supreme Court

Agencies Posted: Jan 16, 2008 at 1801 hrs
New Delhi, January 16: The racial row involving Harbhajan Singh echoed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday with a cricket buff seeking direction to the BCCI to pull out the Indian team from Australia after accusing the board of not protecting the country's dignity.

A Public Interest Litigation(PIL) in this regard was mentioned before a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan which declined to hear it immediately and posted the case for January 28.

Prince Lenin, a Lucknow-based advocate who filed the PIL, submitted that the BCCI should discontinue the ongoing Indian cricket team's tour to Australia, as they have failed to defend and protect the ‘dignity, prestige and respect of the country’.

The petitioner also contended that non-sporting persons should be debarred from holding posts in Sports Organisation like the BCCI.

Referring to the racial controversy involving the Indian off-spinner and Aussie all-rounder Andrew Symonds, the PIL alleged that BCCI had failed to take immediate steps to prevent Indian players from being humiliated.