Court hearing on Ata-ur-Rehman’s petition begins
By our correspondent
KARACHI: A writ petition by former Pakistan fast bowler Ata-ur-Rehman challenging the life ban imposed on him by the Pakistan Cricket Board has been heard in the Lahore High Court.
The one-man bench headed by Justice Javed Buttar specifically inquired from Advocate Ahmer Bilal Soofi who is representing Ata in the case to first prove if the writ petition is maintainable against the PCB.
Justice Buttar adjourned the hearing to the first week of January when the courts open after winter vacations.
“The court heard our arguments but wanted some clarification on the legal structure of the Board as this issue has come up in several cases before the court,” advocate Ahmer Soofi said.
Ata who played the last of his 13 Tests in England in 1996 has challenged the life ban imposed on him for perjury by the Board on the recommendations of the Justice Malik Muhammad Qayyum judicial commission
“I have challenged the ban because I was not found guilty of match-fixing and never given a proper chance to answer the show cause notice issued by the Board,” Ata said.
Ata, 27, told the Qayyum Commission in a sworn statement that Wasim Akram had offered him money to perform below par in a One-day International in New Zealand in 1994.
But he later retracted his statement earning the wrath of the commission, which found him guilty of perjury. “My client was never given a fair chance to plead his case by the Board when it issued him a show cause notice acting on the recommendations of the commission,” Soofi said. “That is why we are challenging the authority of the PCB to impose the life ban,” he stated.
Ata said he had suffered mental stress and grievance due to the life ban and it had affected his cricket career. “I feel I can still play for Pakistan. But the ban makes me ineligible.”