The Sindh High Court, today, asked the Pakistan Cricket Board to file a reply to sacked skipper Shahid Afridi’s petition, seeking grant of an NOC to play for English County side Hampshire.
Afridi had sought a court direction to PCB for getting a no-objection certificate but the court said it cannot do so since the PCB is yet to file its reply to the petition and adjourned the hearing to June 16.
The two-member bench, including chief justice Musheer Alam on Thursday, also adjourned the hearing of a petition filed by Afridi against the disciplinary proceedings initiated against him by the board until June 16.
“We are now thinking about filing for damages for the loss of income of our client which is due to his being denied NOC to play for Hampshire,” Ali Zafar, lawyer for Afridi, said.
Tafazzul Rizvi, the PCB legal advisor, told media that the court has made it clear that they could not order the PCB to issue NOCs at this stage.
“We asked the court for time to file our detailed reply to the petition filed by Afridi and the court has said we should do it by June 16. We pointed out to the court that it had no jurisdiction to accept any petition in this case as Afridi had legally signed a central contract with the board under which disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against him,” Rizvi said.
Afridi, who is facing disciplinary action from the Board, for unilaterally announcing his retirement and then making disparaging remarks about the Board and its officials, has challenged the constitution of the disciplinary committee and its proceedings.
Rizvi said all action against the former captain was according to the law and a procedure that Afridi had accepted in 2010 and appeared before the disciplinary committee of the board last year after the Australian tour.
