Court notice for PCB, Sports Ministry on fixing allegations

A Pakistani court on Tuesday issued notices to the Sports Ministry and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), asking them to file responses on the spot-fixing scandal by September 7.

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khwaja Muhammad Sharif issued the notices while hearing a petition filed by advocate Chaudhry Ishtiaq Ahmed, who demanded exemplary punishment for the accused players, saying the allegations has tarnished the country's image.

The court's notice was not addressed to anyone specific in the PCB and did not summon any official of the board.

In his petition, Ahmed said the players involved in the scandal should be tried on charges of treason and their properties be seized.

He said PCB chairman Ejaz Butt should be included in any probe into the matter.

Ahmad, who filed the petition on Monday, said the players had further damaged Pakistan's already tarnished reputation in world cricket and deserve severe punishment.

He also demanded that the alleged players should be arrested on their return to Pakistan and given a lifetime ban.

The scandal was exposed by a British tabloid News of the World, which reported that bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif bowled three deliberate no-balls in the Lord's Test against England in line with the predictions of alleged fixer Mazhar Majeed.

Majeed allegedly received 150,000 pounds from the tabloid's undercover reporters posing as members of a gambling cartel.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has issued orders for a Federal Investigation Agency team to travel to London within the next two days to conduct a probe into the match-fixing allegations.

The three-member team led by the FIA chief will collaborate with the Scotland Yard in the probe into the scam, Geo News channel quoted its sources as saying.

The Scotland Yard has also conveyed its findings to the FIA.

The Interior Ministry has asked the Sports Ministry to nominate a representative from the ministry or the PCB to join the FIA team.