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 [ Images ] on Monday afternoon.

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

Harbhajan allegedly slapped Sreesanth immediately after the Indian Premier League match between Kings XI Punjab [ Images ] 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.