18 November 2004	Thursday	05 Shawwal 1425

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LAHORE, Nov 17: Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) former treasurer Mohammad Naeem has welcomed the legal notice served on him for giving a statement about mismanagement in distribution of complimentary tickets during the Indo-Pakistan series held in March-April this year.

"I am ready to face them in court and the situation will be more interesting when my lawyers will be asking different questions from them which the PCB has been trying to avoid answering," Naeem contended.

"Every thing will be made open in the court proceeding where I will reveal everything about mis management," he added. Naeem received a joint legal notice on Nov 6 from the PCB and its former chief executive Ramiz Raja for the statement he gave during a programme of the Sports Journalists Association Lahore (SJAL), two months ago on Sept 6.

Naeem had alleged that the PCB had no record of Rs 7 million tickets, out of total amount of Rs 16 million, held by PCB chairman Shaharyar M. Khan and the then chief executive Ramiz.

He claimed that the notice was confusing and nothing demanded from him in any specific period through it. "We hereby give you notice on behalf of our clients that we have been instructed by them to initiate an action for defamation against you in respect of the said comments.

"We have been instructed to bring such action at any time fourteen days after this notice," the third para of the notice stated. Naeem said that surprisingly the notice was given to him through the same legal consultant (Khawaja Ahmad Hosain) of the board against whose appointment he had raised objection and added he considered him (consultant) as one of the parties in the case.

He said that the consultant was getting Rs 4,000 per hour despite the board had already a legal advisor, besides he was appointed without giving advertisement in the national dailies and for that reason he pointed out the wrong doing about his appointment.

The PCB has also been paying Rs 4,000 to its marketing consultant Riaz Mehmood. He alleged that all the wrong doings were done by Shaharyar and Ramiz as their decisions were not endorsed by any PCB committee, therefore, he said, both of them should have sent the legal notice through their personal lawyers and not of the board.

Commenting on a recent announcement regarding details of distribution of free tickets to different institutions, Naeem said that they had no legal authority. "It was not certified by any external auditor so it has no value. "Furthermore, PCB has to announce the exact number of tickets given to its each and every administrative or contractual partners," Naeem said.