Match referee Farokh Engineer, who is adjudicating in the slap row involving Harbhajan Singh [Images] and S Sreesanth [Images] began his hearing at the Maurya Sheraton in New Delhi on Monday afternoon.

Besides Harbhajan and Sreesanth, Lalit Modi, Chief Commissioner of the Indian Premier League, and commentator Harsha Bhogle, who is advisor to IPL team Mumbai Indians, are attending the hearing.

Harbhajan allegedly slapped Sreesanth immediately after the Indian Premier League match between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians, which the former won.

Punjab Cricket Association president I S Bindra had formally filed a complaint against Harbhajan, who was leading the Mumbai side, after viewing video recordings of the incident.

Though the ace off-spinner tendered an apology, the BCCI was unwilling to sweep things under the carpet and decided to probe the incident.

Harbhajan faces the risk of being banned for a few matches. Slapping a fellow-player constitutes a Level 4 offence as per the ICC [Images] Code of Conduct and could lead to a maximum punishment of a life ban or a minimum of five Tests or 10 ODIs.