Supreme Court quashes ban on former Kerala cricketer Santhosh Karunakaran

The Supreme Court has quashed the lifetime ban imposed on former Kerala Ranji Trophy cricketer Santhosh Karunakaran by the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA). The decision came after a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta allowed Karunakaran's special leave petition against the Kerala High Court's 2021 rulings that had dismissed his writ petition and subsequent appeal.In 2019, Karunakaran approached the Ombudsman-cum-Ethics Officer requesting implementation of model byelaws in all District Cricket Associations of Kerala as recommended by the Justice R.M. Lodha Committee and adopted by the BCCI.The Ombudsman rejected his plea in October 2020, citing his failure to include the District Cricket Associations as parties in the case despite repeated directions.Karunakaran challenged this decision in the Kerala High Court, arguing that the Ombudsman's proceedings lacked transparency and he was never informed about those specific directions.The Kerala High Court, both single judge and division bench, dismissed his petitions, stating he approached the court with "unclean hands" and concealed material facts.Following the High Court's dismissal, the KCA issued a show-cause notice and imposed a lifetime ban in August 2021, blacklisting Karunakaran from all activities and removing his rights as a registered member of the Thiruvananthapuram DCA.Karunakaran's request for access to proceedings records was denied by the Ombudsman, who cited being a "persona designata" and not a court of record.The Supreme Court noted that Karunakaran and his counsel faced difficulties during virtual hearings with the Ombudsman, which were frequently interrupted without justification."Otherwise, also, the only prayer of the appellant in the original application was to frame uniform Bye-laws in sync with the recommendations of the Justice R.M. Lodha Committee. Thus, the application filed by the appellant was not in the form of any adversarial litigation requiring the mandatory opportunity of hearing to the DCAs," the Supreme Court stated.The Apex Court found the Kerala High Court's dismissal "harsh," noting Karunakaran was not obligated to include the DCAs in his original application.The Supreme Court set aside the Ombudsman's order and the Kerala High Court's judgments from January 27 and June 21, 2021."The proceedings of the Original Application No. 10 of 2019 filed by the appellant before the Ombudsman shall stand revived. The concerned parties shall be provided an opportunity of hearing, and the original application shall be decided afresh by the Ombudsman by passing a reasoned order within a period of three months," ordered the Justice Nath-led Bench.