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| November 7, 2001 | Wednesday | Shaba’an 20, 1422 |
PCB not cooperating, says Malik’s lawyer
KARACHI, Nov 6: Former Pakistan captain Salim Malik’s lawyer Tuesday accused Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) of non-cooperation and creating hurdles in the way of filing of his client’s appeal against the life ban.
“No one supported Malik after he was unjustifiably banned from cricket. Now the Pakistan Cricket Board is causing hurdles and has not given us the related documents needed to file a Civil Revision,” Raja Jahanzeb Akhtar told SADA. “The Civil Revision against the ban will be filed next week before Lahore High Court judge Justice Karamat Bhandari.”
Middle-order batsman Malik, 38, was banned for life on match-fixing charges by a judicial commission in May last year. Lahore High Court judge Malik Mohammad Qayyum, who has resigned from the post, conducted the inquiry from Sept 1998 to Oct 1999.
“There seems no justification in banning Malik because the inquiry was conducted by Justice Qayyum and not by the Lahore High Court itself. An inquiry cannot punish anybody,” he said. “Cricket is his (Malik’s) life and the decision has really made things worse for my client,” he said.
Although Malik was granted a stay against the ban by a civil court in Lahore in November last year, PCB instructed his employer Habib Bank Limited not to include him in their team for domestic competitions.
“Pakistan has a good record under his captaincy and he should not have been treated like this without any proper evidence,” Jahanzeb said.
He refused to accept that Malik’s name was mentioned in almost every match-fixing probe conducted globally. “Indian inquiry was based on a bookie’s statement. All other boards have cleared their players because one cannot take action just on the statement of an unreliable bookie.”
India’s Crime Bureau of Investigation (CBI) named nine international players for their alleged involvement in match-fixing. Besides Malik, Australians Dean Jones and Mark Waugh, New Zealand’s Martin Crowe, West Indian Brian Lara, Sri Lanka’s Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva, India’s Mohammad Azharuddin and England’s Alec Stewart were suspected of fixing matches.
Azharuddin and Cronje are also serving life bans while the other players were cleared by their respective boards.
“You can’t even compare Hansie Cronje to Malik because Cronje’s wrongdoings were proved through banks’ transactions and he also confessed his involvement. There is no such thing in Malik’s case,” he observed.
Match-fixing allegations were first levelled against Malik by Australian players Shane Warne, Mark Waugh and Tim May who accused the former Pakistan captain of offering them bribe to perform poorly in a Test in Karachi in 1994.
“PCB has snatched cricket bat from Malik and that too without giving him any chance of appeal,” Malik’s lawyer said. “PCB has spoiled Malik’s reputation who is a very simple man.” —SADA
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