There is a new development in the case of KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya’s controversial appearance on the talk show ‘Koffee with Karan’. The Supreme Court-appointed Ombudsman Justice (Retd) DK Jain has issued a notice to both players asking them to depose for their controversial appearance in the show. Both these players participated in a famous chat show of Karan Johar, where they made certain sexist comments.
As soon as the episode got on air, both players received the backlash from all corners as those comments didn’t go down well to several people. The Committee of Administrators (CoA) banned the duo immediately from playing the international cricket and asked them to return from India’s tour of Australia. However, when SC appointed an Ombudsman to look after the case. He allowed both these players to play until the final outcome of the case comes.
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“I have issued notices last week to Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul asking them to appear for deposition,” Justice Jain told PTI on Monday.
Both players are busy playing in the Indian Premier League 2019, which is making it hard to register their appearance. They are likely to come in front of them around 11 April as both teams, Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians will play their game in Mumbai.
“Both are playing IPL and the itinerary is packed with back to back matches and a gruelling travel schedule,” a BCCI official said.
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Meanwhile, the Ombudsman mentioned that both of them need to depose for the matter to reach a logical conclusion. “As per principles of natural justice, I need to hear their side. It’s up to them now to decide when they want to appear,” Justice Jain said.
Amidst, the Ombudsman received another complaint about former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly over a ‘conflict of interest’. Ganguly is the president of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and also serving IPL franchise’s adviser.
“I am supposed to receive a fresh set of complaints on various issues today. I don’t know whether the issue (Ganguly’s conflict) is in this lot or not. As and when I get the details, I will have a detailed look into the matter,” said Justice Jain.
