Calcutta: Suspended Cricket South Africa (CSA) chief executive Gerald Majola hit a fresh low on Friday as he has been dismissed with immediate effect for his part in the IPL-II bonuses that he paid to himself and other Board staff, following a disciplinary hearing.

Majola, however, has taken his employers to the Labour Court to challenge the legality of the Nicholson inquiry, that recommended not just the disciplinary hearing, but also investigation of possible criminal charges against the contentious chief.

The inquiry was instituted by sports minister Fikile Mbalula after bitter wrangling inside CSA that saw its president Mtutuzeli Nyoka suspended twice in absentia after he queried the IPL bonuses.

The disciplinary hearing under the independent chairmanship of Advocate Karel Tip continued after Majola refused to return to the hearing and his legal team was advised that it would proceed in his absence.

Tip made it clear to Majola and his legal team that, if they left, he would have to reach his findings on the charges without the benefit of cross-examination by his counsel of CSA’s witnesses.