NEW DELHI, 19 June 2005 — Former Indian cricket captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi has surrendered to authorities to face charges of killing an endangered species of antelope, report said yesterday.
None of Pataudi’s celebrity family members were with him when he turned up before Chief Judicial Magistrate Sudhir Jiwan in the case of poaching of a blackbuck.
His wife and Censor Board of India Chairperson Sharmila Tagore, Bollywood actor son Saif Ali Khan and actress daughter Soha Ali Khan were absent. Only a handful of people greeted Pataudi as he drove to the court a little before noon.
Dressed in a green shirt and cream trousers, the former cricketer also known as “Tiger Pataudi” alighted from his car to be received by his lawyers and a few others.
Seeking to look composed, Pataudi — who evaded the Haryana Police for nearly a fortnight — greeted his lawyers with a “salaam” as he entered the courtroom.
He stood quietly as court proceedings were held. The former cricketer did not show any sign of the “life-threatening” medical problems that he had cited in his anticipatory bail application that was rejected by the high court Friday.
Magistrate Jiwan denied bail to Pataudi and allowed police to question him, hours after he dramatically surrendered at the court.
The court was held at the official residence of the magistrate.
Police had sought a two-day remand for Pataudi but the court allowed only one day. Pataudi was immediately whisked away by Jhajjar Police for questioning.
He will be presented before the court again today to take up his bail plea.
Pataudi surrendered before the court after his anticipatory bail application was rejected by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday. He and seven others have been booked in the killing of a blackbuck June 3 after they were caught with the carcass of the animal near Jhajjar town.
The blackbuck is a protected animal under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Pataudi had been hiding ever since.
