Harbhajan
wins appeal, racial charge overturned
ADELAIDE/NEW DELHI, Jan
29: The charge of racial abuse
against Harbhajan Singh was overturned
today but he was held guilty of using
offensive language against
Australia’s Andrew Symonds, ending a
bitter controversy which had posed a
threat to the remainder of Indian cricket
team’s tour of Australia.
An
ICC-appointed Appeals Commissioner,
Justice John Hansen who heard the Indian
off-spinner’s appeal against the
three-Test ban imposed on him by match
referee Mike Procter, ruled that on the
basis of evidence submitted before him
the charge of racial abuse was not
proven.
Hansen, a
New Zealand high court judge, held a
day-long hearing at the Adelaide Federal
Court during which besides Harbhajan,
Sachin Tendulkar and Australian players
skipper Ricky Ponting, Symonds, Matthew
Hayden and Michael Clark were present.
The judge,
after overuling the January 6 verdict of
South African Procter who had held
Harbhajan guilty of racially abusing
Symonds by calling him a
‘monkey’, said that the
off-spinner should be charged with a
lesser violation of using offensive
language.
Harbhajan
pleaded guilty to the charge and after
hearing submissions on the penalty which
could have ranged from a ban for two ODIs
and one Test to a fine, Hansen imposed a
fine of 50 percent of the match fee on
him.
A
delighted BCCI, which had raised the
stakes by threatening to call back the
team from Australia unless the racial
charge was withdrawn, welcomed the
verdict and announced that the tour will
go ahead.
Justice
Hansen’s task was made easier by
some back channel diplomacy by BCCI and
Cricket Australia which resulted in a
common letter signed by all the
Australian and Indian players involved in
the fracas that occurred on January 4,
the third day of the Sydney Test.
The letter
was tendered into evidence as an agreed
statement of facts as to what took place
during the Test, the ICC spokesman Samiul
Hasan said in a statement later.
The
Appeals Commissioner took into account
the video and audio evidence of the
incident although the Indians had been
strongly opposed to the introduction of
the recording by the stump mike during
the appeal. The recording had not figured
when Procter held Harbhajan guilty.
Evidence
from all witnesses, both Indian and
Australian players, to the exchanges
between Harbhajan and a number of
Australian players, was heard by Hansen,
the ICC said.
The
witnesses were cross-examined from Mumbai
by V R Manohar, bcci-appointed lawyer,
and Brian Ward counsel representing the
Australian players. At the conclusion of
the oral evidence, legal submissions were
heard from the counsel.
"Justice
Hansen said he was convinced that, on all
the evidence submitted before him, the
charge of a level 3.3 offence (racial
abuse) was not proven but that Harbhajan
should be charged with a level 2.8
offence (using obscene, offensive or
seriously insulting language)", the
ICC said.
The Indian
off-spinner pleaded guilty to the lesser
charge and was fined 50 percent of his
match fee, the statement said.
After the
hearing Indian captain Anil Kumble
presented himself in front of the media
and expressed his gratitude to the board
as well as all those who had stood by his
team in this moment of crisis.
"I
feel it’s time we move on. There is
no point in lingering on the issue,"
Kumble said.
Cricket
Australia and the BCCI jointly issued a
press release which said that Harbhajan
and Symonds had resolved the on-field
issue between them in Sydney and now
intend to move on.
"They
said they intended to make no further
comment on the issue and intended to go
on with the game of cricket, which is the
most important issue for each of them.
"Both
captains also said they were satisfied
with the outcome between their respective
players and they looked forward to the
cricket battles that lie ahead of the two
nations which are currently the top two
ranked Test nations in world
cricket," the joint release said.
The BCCI
officials in India also welcomed the
Commissioner’s decision with BCCI
president Sharad Pawar describing it as
"proper" the judgment.
"The
judge has given a proper judgment. BCCI
was consistently taking only one stand
that it was practically impossible for us
to accept the racist charges against any
Indian player," Pawar told
reporters.
The Indian
team, which was asked to stay put in
Adelaide till the entire issue was sorted
out, will now proceed to Melbourne
tomorrow, where they are scheduled to
play a Twenty20 match against Australia
on Friday. (PTI)
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