Islamabad, Jun 9: Pak batsman Shahid Afridi's legal challenge to the suspension of his central contract and permission to play abroad has been adjourned for a week.
Pakistan Cricket Board legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi said the Sindh High Court on Thursday set June 16 as the next day for the hearing after the PCB questioned whether the court had jurisdiction over the case.
Rizvi pointed out that body's headquarters are in Lahore, and said the PCB has been “asked to file a detailed reply” before the case resumes.
The PCB suspended Afridi's central contract for criticizing board officials and retiring in protest. It also revoked all the No Objection Certificates for Afridi, preventing him playing for English county Hampshire in Twenty20 event in England.
Rizvi said Afridi's lawyers asked for his NOC to be reinstated, “but the judges said that county matches are not our concern, if there is a loss of earnings for him, please present us those.”
Afridi filed a petition on Tuesday and the court suspended a PCB disciplinary hearing against the enigmatic allrounder, who guided Pakistan to the World Cup semifinal.
“The most important thing was to stop the disciplinary proceedings as a first step,” Afridi's lawyer Syed Ali Zafar said. “The court has asked us to detail the monetary losses Afridi has suffered from not playing in England.”
Zafar said there was no mention of the NOC in the central contract.
“Where does it say in the central contract that the NOC can be revoked?” Zafar questioned. “In the contracts there is no such clause.”
Afridi's other lawyer Mahmood Mandviwala was expecting PCB to file a reply on Thursday, but hoped that the cricket board will do so in the next hearing.
“All arguments about NOCs and suspensions will be made then,” he said. AP
