Banned in spot fixing, Pak opener Sharjeel Khan gets breather

Islamabad: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday accepted cricketer Sharjeel Khan's petition to remove his name from the Exit Control List (ECL).

Justice Shahid Waheed heard the petition to decide the maintainability of the case. The petition, filed on Khan's behalf by his counsel Ejaz Ahmed, says that the cricketer was unable to go to perform Umrah and meet his brother in Dubai due to travel restrictions placed on him. 

It further argues that the interior ministry illegally placed Khan's name on the ECL, Dawn reported. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), interior ministry and the Federal Investigation Agency have been nominated as respondents.

The high court office had earlier dismissed the petition as non-maintainable. The LHC, however, overturned that decision. Even if a petition is declared as non-maintainable by court office, the case is sent to a judge.

Khan was slapped with a five-year ban from playing cricket by a PCB-appointed Anti-Corruption Unit last year after he was found guilty of spot-fixing in the second edition of the Pakistan Super League.(UNI)