The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has said it will begin ex-parte proceedings [in a person's absence] againstShahid Afridi should he decide against attending the disciplinary committee meeting in Lahore on Wednesday.
"In case Shahid Afridi decides against appearing for the hearing, the disciplinary committee will still meet and begin ex-parte proceedings," Taffazul Rizvi, the PCB's legal advisor told The News on Monday. Afridi, returned to Pakistan on Sunday, and in a press conference in Karachi the following day, he and his lawyers Syed Ali Zafar and Mahmood Mandviwalla of the legal firm Mandviwalla & Zafar, refused to rule in or out his appearance at the hearing.
The PCB has said it will begin ex-parte proceedings against Shahid Afridi should he decide to not attend the disciplinary hearing
One of the demands of Afridi's lawyers was that he should be allowed a legal representative at the hearing. In a press release issued a few hours before Monday's press conference the PCB had agreed to that demand stating: "In response to certain reports in a section of media, Pakistan Cricket Board states that it will have no objection if the disciplinary committee allows Shahid Afridi to be assisted/represented by a lawyer during the disciplinary proceedings."
"Although it is the PCB's internal matter, it has as a matter of grace announced that if the committee has no issues it won't object to Afridi's lawyer attending the hearing," Rizvi said. While both Zafar and Mandviwalla said they had received no such communication on Monday, Rizvi told ESPNcricinfo that after the press conference, Afridi's lawyers had been told they will be allowed in, though they had yet to respond to it.
Afridi's lawyers have insisted they are asking only for a due process to be followed and that the act of suspension of the central contract and NOC withdrawal were punishments handed out before the player had been heard. But Rizvi rejected these objections.
"The board has suspended Afridi's central contract because he is under investigation for breaches of discipline," he said. "Because his contract has been suspended, all NOCs granted to him have been revoked."
Rizvi added that by repeatedly targeting the PCB, Afridi was committing "continuing breaches" of discipline. "Afridi's contract has been suspended. He hasn't made any request for the termination of his contract which means that he is still bound by the central contract."
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