He said the charges he makes against former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Dr AC Muthiah and his chief investigator K Madhavan must be allowed to stand.

The former Indian skipper told a Hyderabad court that his statement represented "the core of the case" - and as such cannot be withdrawn.

Muthiah and Madhavan are seeking to have certain elements of Azharuddin's petition annulled.

But counsel for Azharuddin, T Jagdeesh, said Madhavan's method of inquiry had been "malicious, illegal and arbitrary - and biased in favour of the BCCI."

And he added that the case "ceases to exist" if Azharuddin's opinions of the conduct of the investigation were struck off.

The former Indian batsman questioned the competence of Muthiah, saying "he, being an industrialist, suffers from lack of experience or knowledge of the game."

Earlier, Ramesh Ranganathan, appearing on behalf of the Indian board, said the charges levelled by Azharuddin against the two were "scandalous, vexatious and irrelevant."

Judge Shyamsundara Rao, who heard the arguments from both sides, adjourned the case to 17 October.