NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has quashed the lifetime ban imposed on former Ranji cricketer Santhosh Karunakaran by the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) and directed that his case be heard afresh.Setting aside a 2021 Kerala High Court order that had dismissed Karunakaran’s challenge to his blacklisting, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta observed: “After going through the impugned order dated June 21, 2021, and the order of blacklisting dated August 22, 2021, we are of the opinion that the High Court has taken a very harsh view in rejecting the writ petition and the writ appeal preferred by the appellant on the purported ground of concealment of material facts, concluding that the appellant had approached the writ court with unclean hands.”The Court also noted: “The documents and communications placed on record suggest that many a time it became difficult for the appellant and his counsel to address the ombudsman during the proceedings of the original application because the virtual hearing gateway was frequently interrupted without any justification.”Karunakaran, who is also a member of the Thiruvananthapuram District Cricket Association, had approached the ombudsman‑cum‑ethics officer in 2019 seeking a model byelaw to be implemented in all districts in line with the Lodha Committee recommendations adopted by the BCCI. The ombudsman dismissed his plea in October 2020 for failure to implead the District Cricket Associations despite repeated directions.He challenged that decision in the High Court, arguing that the proceedings lacked transparency and that he was never informed of those specific directions. Both a single judge and a division bench dismissed his petitions, holding that he had approached the court with “unclean hands” and had concealed material facts.After his appeal was rejected, the KCA issued a show-cause notice under Section 15(4)(s) of its byelaws and, in August 2021, imposed a lifetime ban, blacklisting Karunakaran from all activities. The Supreme Court has now set aside that ban and ordered a fresh hearing.
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