Pataudi denied anticipatory bail

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has refused to grant Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi interim bail in relation to the black-buck hunting incident that he was allegedly involved in.

The court has also issued a notice to the Haryana government to produce all documents pertaining to the case by Friday, according to a report by the Press Trust of India. Pataudi has been missing from his Delhi residence for more than a week and has not been contactable.

"No interim order will be passed," vacation judge Justice Rajive Bhalle is quoted as having told Dinesh Mathur, Pataudi's counsel, in response to Mathur pressing for anticipatory bail for his client.

To add to Pataudi's woes, the Haryana Wildlife Department has said that he had disputed trophies in his possession. "Pataudi's Ibrahim Palace housed at least 12 trophies of deer species about which he has no certificate to authenticate when he inherited them," KL Minhas, the chief wildlife warden, is quoted as saying. Minhas also described Pataudi as a "habitual hunter", saying: "The former cricketer is in the habit of hunting regularly in areas of Jhajjar district with the association of local people."

The wildlife department added that it would conduct tests on the trophies in an attempt to investigate the matter further.