SHC rejects life ban petition for Mohammad Amir

Court throws out application after petitioner repeatedly failed to show up for hearings

KARACHI: Sindh High Court on Tuesday dismissed a legal petition seeking a life ban on fast bowler Mohammad Amir, just weeks after he returned to domestic cricket following a spot-fixing suspension.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) gave permission for the left-armer to return early to domestic cricket from his five-year ban over the infamous spot-fixing episode in a Test against England in 2010.

Read: Amir bags three wickets on comeback

Lawyer Rana Faizul Hassan filed a petition in the Sindh High Court in February calling for the 22-year-old to be banned for life to stop him damaging the image of Pakistan and cricket.

But on Tuesday the court threw out the application after Hassan repeatedly failed to show up for hearings.

"The Sindh High Court today rejected my petition of demanding lifetime ban on Mohammad Amir on non-persecution basis," Hassan told AFP.

Read: Amir set for domestic return

Hassan said he had not been able to appear before the court because of his "busy" schedule and a two-judge bench dismissed the case.

Amir made his comeback in Pakistani grade-two cricket, one rung below first class, on March 13, taking three wickets in his first spell of bowling.

He was one of three Pakistani players banned from cricket for at least five years for arranging no-balls to order, in the Lord's Test against England in 2010.

He was also jailed in Britain in 2011, along with former capital Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif.

Amir's ban was due to expire on September 2 2015, but the International Cricket Council used discretionary powers to allow him to return to domestic cricket early.