Latif tribunal begins as High court challenge fails

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Pakistan batsman Khalid Latif appeared before the Pakistan Cricket Board’s anti-corruption tribunal on Friday 14 April as his involvement in match-fixing is probed.

Proceedings were delayed for an hour as Khalid awaited the outcome of an application he had filed with the high court challenging the composition of the tribunal.

The Pakistan cricket Board released a press release which read as follows: “The Anti-Corruption Tribunal held its hearing today at the National Cricket Academy, Lahore and the following were in attendance:

1.      Jus. (R) Asghar Haider (Chairman)

2.      Lt. Gen. (R) Tauqir Zia (Member)

3.      Mr. Wasim Bari (Member)

4.      Mr. Khalid Latif, along with Mr. Badar Alam, Advocate

5.      Mr. Taffazul Rizvi and Mr. Haider Ali Khan Advocates for PCB

6.      Mr. Salman Naseer, GM Legal Affairs PCB

7.      Col. (R) Mohammad Azam Khan, Head of PCB’s Vigilance and Security Department
“Earlier, Mr. Khalid Latif, filed a Writ Petition before the Lahore High Court, Lahore challenging the constitution of the Tribunal. However, the petition of Mr. Latif was dismissed in limine by the Honourable Court after hearing arguments of PCB.

“After a delay of an hour due to the fact that Mr. Khalid Latif was awaiting the decision of the Honourable High Court, proceedings of the Anti-Corruption Tribunal commenced.

“Mr. Khalid Latif, through his counsel, filed a miscellaneous application. However, the said application was dismissed by the Anti-Corruption Tribunal. The Tribunal also noted the reservation of the counsel of Khalid Latif to challenge the order of the Learned Single Bench before relevant legal forum.

“PCB’s counsel submitted its Opening Brief to the Anti-Corruption Tribunal which details its claims along with all the supporting evidence. This includes, amongst other material, witness statements, recorded interviews, recovered material, match footage, and copies of certain WhatsApp voice messages.

“The Anti-Corruption Tribunal directed that the parties would not make any comments regarding the contents of the evidence presented to this Tribunal, or on the merits of the present proceedings.

“A copy of the opening brief along with all the material was also provided to Mr. Khalid Latif and his counsel who as per Anti-Corruption Code shall respond by filing an Answering Brief before the Tribunal on 5th May 2017.”

Latif is one of five players charged with involvement in attempts to corrupt the Pakistan Super League T20 tournament earlier this year.

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