Saqlain to testify before Justice Qayyum (28 November 1998)

28 November 1998

Saqlain to testify before Justice Qayyum

By Our Special Representative

PESHAWAR, Nov 27: Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq left here for Lahore to attend the Judicial Commission hearing which resumes on Saturday after a two-week break following Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum's operation.

Besides Saqlain, five other people, including two former cricketers Zahid Fazal and Asif Mujtaba, have been summoned by Justice Qayyum, official sources said.

The two remaining people are Nayyar Ahmad (owner of Star Video) and Shahid Sheikh (sports scribe of a leading Lahore-based Urdu daily).

Saqlain Mushtaq was also issued a show cause notice after he failed to miss the last hearing. However, the off-spinner said he received no summons or show cause notice for appearance last time.

Ali Sajjad, representative of PCB's legal adviser Ali Sibtain Fazli, said from Lahore that Saqlain has been summoned after Haroon Rasheed (former coach) had accused him of deliberately conceding 17 runs in the last two overs in the second one-dayer against India at Karachi last year.

Zahid Fazal, Sajjad added, has been called after Javed Burki (former ad hoc committee chairman) had alleged that he (Zahid Fazal) had carried a message for Saeed Anwar to slow down the proceedings in a Singer Cup match against Australia at Colombo in 1994-95.

For further verification of the specific allegation, Asif Mujtaba has been asked to appear. Mujtaba was Salim Malik's deputy on that tour.

Shahid Sheikh has been summoned to authenticate one of his interviews in which PCB chairman Khalid Mahmood has been quoted as saying that he knew betting and match-fixing does take place and would testify if any inquiries were conducted. Mahmood, in his testimony before the judge, had denied having any knowledge of foul-play.

Meanwhile, Ijaz Ahmad and Mushtaq Ahmad have filed the details of their assets and the assets of their spouses and dependents, Ali Sajjad said.

However, some of the leading players have requested for some more time for the completion of the paper work as they were busy in international cricket.

Ali Sajjad stated that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has requested Justice Qayyum to complete his investigations as soon as possible because the court proceedings were affecting the performance of the players as well as of the team.

Source :: Dawn (https://dawn.com/)