Amid Betting Charges, Trouble Mounts for Mohammad Rizwan; Lahore Court Dismisses Plea As PCB Prepares Disciplinary Crackdown

The Lahore High Court has dismissed the petition filed by Pakistani wicketkeeper-batter Mohammed Rizwan against the country's cybercrime agency, the National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency (NCCIA), directing the star batter to respond to its queries, reported Cricinfo. 

Rizwan had filed a writ petition on Wednesday through his lawyers at the court, arguing that NCCIA had not specified the reason behind inquiring into him and the agency also did not have jurisdiction over the matter, which the petition said was "purportedly in respect of online betting/gambling in the sports of Pakistan cricket".

However, after a short hearing on Thursday, the petition was dismissed, and it is unclear if Rizwan will appeal to it or not or comply with their directions to respond to NCCIA's queries. Rizwan's petition was filed in response to a summons from NCCIA for questioning. Opener Imam Ul Haq also appeared before the agency, but he filled out his responses in a questionnaire and sent it back to the agency earlier this week. 

Rizwan instead chose the legal route. His petition said that "allegations are absolutely misconceived, concocted, illusionary and vague and nothing more than a vexatious and feeble attempt to malign the interest and reputation of the Petitioner".

The petition also challenged the jurisdiction of NCCIA, pointing out that the ICC's anti-corruption unit investigates allegations related to such issues. 

"… the ICC ACU is the body specifically constituted and mandated to receive, investigate and act upon allegations of corruption, including betting and spot-fixing, against players participating in international cricket, including the Petitioner," the petition said. "No reference of the alleged conduct has been made to the ACU. In the absence of any independent, specific offence… the NCCIA's assumption of jurisdiction is without lawful basis and amounts to an abuse of process," added his petition. 

The petition listed the various offences the agency is empowered to investigate, before concluding that the notice did not "identify which of these specific offences is alleged to have been committed, or which provision has purportedly been contravened, the exercise of jurisdiction... is not merely irregular but wholly without jurisdiction".

It is also alleged that Rizwan's phone was taken from him after Pakistan's 194-run loss to England at Lord's. In the aftermath of the loss, Rizwan was among the seven players and the head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul, who were sent back home in a massive squad overhaul. 

The petition claimed that Rizwan was "summoned to the lobby of the hotel where the entire team was staying, at 01:00 AM in the night". "There, an officer purportedly from some government agency was present," it added. "Despite no notice with respect to the foregoing, the Petitioner [Rizwan] was interrogated by the said officer and his mobile phone was confiscated from him without providing him with any reason or justification in respect thereof. He was also not informed of any order which, authorised the confiscation of his phone."

Rizwan, the petitioner, said, had handed his phone over "on the assurance that the device would be thoroughly checked and returned to him within the next 3 hours", but "despite the assurance, the phone has not been handed back to him till date".

Last week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also announced its post-England tour inquiry, which ended in a 0-3 whitewash, condemning Pakistan to the bottom of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC). The board did not name any players, but said that it had "initiated an internal disciplinary inquiry following media reports concerning discipline and conduct, which are currently being reviewed internally". PCB said that the process was being conducted as per its regulations. 

Rizwan and Imam's selection for the tours to West Indies and England were the reason for a notice sent by PCB to the selectors' after the Lord's Test. The notice asked for a written explanation regarding their selection and the process through which it was done. Misbah-ul-Haq, one of the selectors, resigned from his post after changes to the squad were made.