Pakistan

LHC summons cricketers, Ijaz Butt on September 7

Petitioner Ishtiaq Ahmed filed the treason case, calling for life bans and confiscation of all the players' assets.

Express/afp August 31, 2010

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday summoned seven national cricket players, the sports minister and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman to face treason charges over fixing allegations in England.

The chief justice of the high court said that those under investigation in England, the sports minister Ijaz Jakharani and PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt must appear on September 7.

Petitioner Ishtiaq Ahmed filed the treason case on Monday, calling for life bans and confiscation of all the players' assets if they are found guilty. He requested to initiate proceedings against the players on charges of high treason under Article 6 of the constitution.

The cricketers are alleged to have been paid to bowl no-balls at pre-determined times in a spot-fixing scam in the fourth Test against England, which Pakistan lost by an innings on Sunday.

"The case is based only on allegations. We do not expect a hurried decision," Azhar Siddique, a local lawyer said.

The seven national team players include Test team captain Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamir, plus three unnamed players. The police have bailed the bookmaker, Mazhar Majeed, who is alleged to be the middleman in the scam.

COMMENTS (7)

Aizey | 14 years ago | Reply Does the court need more "proof" to hear the case???If there has ever been an open and shut case, this is it! The players took the marked money. That money was recovered from their possession. Factor in the 3 no balls bowled at specific times- and thats that! However, I do not understand why the court wants other players? Maybe the petitioner knows more than we do regarding the other players involvement in this matter. The court must have looked into the petitioner's plea and judged the matter to be of a grave importance (which it is) I suppose the court would also be interested to know why our Mr Butt kept on insisting rather insanely that the charged players were available for future matches! Cricketers get paid because viewers watch cricket. Who wants to pay to watch a game of cricket in which some players are sold out pre-match? The whole system of corporate sponsorship works only when the sport is clean.

DR WASEEM SHEIKH | 14 years ago | Reply LHC has admitted the case and issued notices/summoned,which is a normal proceedure in motion. It is understood that the cricket players have financial assets , beyond known source of income, it needs to investigated....

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Dr Qaisar Rashid | 14 years ago | Reply Both the petition and the treason charges make no sense. People should control their emotions.

Shahryar Ahmed | 14 years ago | Reply Another populace action which has nothing to do with justice but only political ambitions of a few bunch of judges or shall i say a gang of Judges. I am not taking any sides, but for crying out loud, please wait & see the outcome of the investigation. All Hail Democracy!!!!! All Hail Independent Judiciary!!!!!

Tani | 14 years ago | Reply Another knee jerk reaction. When will these Courts learn that this is not the way to handle allegations that haven't even been proven by the british police yet. Where is LHC when there are things happening in Pakistan everyday that are more then treason? The LHC doesn't have to look too far, people are being denied flood relief just because they haven't voted for a particular party, MNA, Senator etc in the provice of Punjab. There are fake camps for photo ops with the Cheif Minister and the Prime Minister, where is LHC? There are children dieing of drinking bad water in the flooded areas, where is LHC? WHEN WILL LAHORE HIGH COURT WAKE UP AND SMELL THE DIRT THE COURT SYSTEM IS IN TODAY?

asmat jamal | 14 years ago | Reply "Face treason charges over fixing allegations in England". LHC has summoned cricketers. In Pashto there is a saying that (translation) "Water flows towards the lower gradient". The best thing for Lahore High Court would be to summon those who have actually performed treason. In any case there are thousand upon thousand cases of citizens piled up in every court of the country awaiting decisions. One fails to under stand the priority of these public paid institutions.

Adeel Ahmed | 14 years ago | Reply Who the hell is this Ishtiaq Ahmed? Nothing has been proven yet, how the hell can he file a case for treason? AND HOW THE HELL CAN THE HIGH COURT ACCEPT HIS LUDICROUS PETITION? Way to be patriotic! How is this any different to what the mob did to the two innocent civilians in Sialkot after the mob had "heard" the two were thieves? What proof has anyone got? Any arrests made? Any one charged?

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