Lahore High Court summons Shoaib Akhtar on July 4

Lahore, Jul 2 (UNI) The Lahore High Court has summoned maverick fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar on July 4 to hear his appeal against the 18-month ban imposed on him by the PCB-appointed appellate tribunal.

The court also issued a notice yesterday to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for Friday.

''The lawyers for Shoaib wanted the court to issue a stay order today on the ban but the court adjourned the proceedings till July 4 and will at its next hearing decide whether to stay the ban,'' PCB lawyer Tafazzul Rizvi said today.

''Shoaib has challenged the ban in a writ petition which was accepted for hearing but since we didn't have a copy of the writ or the annexture of the petition, therefore we requested them to provide us the copy. The documents were issued to us today and we will argue the case after going through it. The court has issued notices to us today,'' he added.

''The stay application is likely to be heard on the July 4 and since the matter is subjudice it would be inappropriate to comment on the case.'' On Monday, Akhtar had filed a petition against the appellate commision ruling which had imposed an 18-month ban and seven million rupee fine on him.

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