Khalid Latif, through his lawyer, has stated his objections to the composition of the PCB’s tribunal © BCB
Pakistan batsman Khalid Latif, provisionally suspended for alleged involvement in the PSL spot-fixing scandal, has refused to appear before the PCB’s anti-corruption panel, citing concerns about the fairness of the investigation.
Latif’s lawyer also objected to the three-man tribunal constituted to the hear the case, in which Latif stands charged of six breaches of the anti-corruption code during the PSL earlier this year.
Latif was issued a fresh notice on April 17 by the PCB, asking him to appear for another interview before its Security and Vigilance Department. He had already been charged with serious breaches of the PCB’s anti-corruption code during the PSL in February, and was provisionally suspended for alleged misdemeanours and sent home from the tournament with immediate effect.
He had already challenged those charges and is set to be heard before a three-man tribunal on May 5. The PCB also appear to have found fresh leads in their ongoing investigation in the second edition of PSL.
“We are working on filing an appeal against the constitution of the tribunal which is not made in the line of fairness and natural justice,” Latif’s lawyer Badar Alam told ESPNcricinfo. “All three members have been associated with the PCB in various capacities and have been beneficiaries from the PCB. Most recently, Wasim Bari was the Pakistan team manager. We protested this and even challenged it in the Lahore High Court but the writ was rejected by the Honourable Court. But before the next hearing we are planning to lodge an appeal to have a stay order against proceedings.”
All three members of the tribunal have been closely involved with the PCB in the past. Wasim Bari, as Alam stated, was the Pakistan team manager as recently as Pakistan’s New Zealand and Australia tours that concluded in January this year. Lt General Tauqir Zia was the chairman of the PCB until 2003, while Asghar Haider, who completes the tribunal, has served as a legal advisor to the PCB.
The PCB denied that Khalid Latif or his lawyer had raised any objections previously. “They at the preliminary hearing failed to raise any objection to the members of the tribunal. Therefore, now their reaction is solely an afterthought, and clearly an attempt to delay proceedings,” the PCB’s legal advisor, Taffazul Haider Rizvi, told ESPNcricinfo, “The writ petition filed by them in the Lahore High Court also stands dismissed by the Honourable Court and so now, they are raising frivolous objections to proceedings. As far as the tribunal is concerned, it was formed according to the PCB’s Anti- Corruption Code with persons of impeccable repute as its members.”
The news about the corruption in PSL broke on the second day of the second edition of the league on April 10. Since then, PCB’s senior General Manager Vigilance, Azam Khan, has been following through on the investigation. The letter was written to the PCB chairman by Latif as a response to the second demand notice.
The PCB has been following and implementing an anti-corruption code which is in line with the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) code. There are minor changes in various clauses to adjust for Pakistan’s unique circumstances, and the ranges of sanctions for wrongdoing are stricter than the ones laid down in the international code.
According to the code, the PCB chairman has the right to appoint a three-man tribunal with any appropriate external lawyers/cricketers/experts as members of the Anti- Corruption Tribunal. The appointed members must be independent of the parties and have had no prior involvement with the case they are arbitrating.
Umar Farooq is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo