Former Pakistan Supreme court judge Justice (retd) Faqir Muhammad Khokhar has been appointed as an independent adjudicator to hear Umar Akmal’s appeal against the three years ban imposed on him by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
“The independent adjudicator will now decide on the date of the appeal hearing. As soon as this is confirmed, the PCB will make the announcement,” the PCB said in a statement.
Umar was handed a three years ban from all forms of cricket in April by the Independent Disciplinary Committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for failing to report corrupt approaches. He was charged for two breaches of Article 2.4.4 of the PCB Corruption Code in two unrelated activities.
Resorting to a legal battle and in a bid to see off the punishment, the cricketer had hired Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs, Babar Awan’s law firm to help him in his case.
The 30-year-old filed an appeal on May 19 against PCB’s decision, seeking a reduction in the duration of sanctions slapped on him.
According to the cricket governing body of Pakistan, the panel will not conduct a fresh hearing and will limit itself to “a consideration of whether the decision being appealed was erroneous,” reported ESPNcricinfo.
Earlier, while investigating Umar’s case and before submitting the final report, Chairman of PCB’s Independent Disciplinary Panel, Justice (retired) Fazal-e-Miran Chauhan, in his final report, had said that Akmal did not seem willing to remorse and nor did he apologise for failing to report approaches by bookies.
Justice Chauhan in his final report said, “It appears that he (Umar Akmal) is not prepared to show remorse and seek an apology, make admission that he failed to fulfill his responsibility under Anti-Corruption Code, Article 2.4., rather he tried to take refuge under the pretext that in the past whenever any such approaches were made, the matter was reported by him.”