The Court of Arbitration for Sport's decision predictably overturns the decision made by the PCB's handpicked disgraced former Supreme Court justice.
You might recall that Umar Akmal's original appeal was given by the PCB to disgraced former Supreme Court Justice Khokhar, who had himself been found to have illegally been sworn in as a Supreme Court Justice, after which he resigned before he could be sacked.
Umar Akmal's original tribunal produced a comical miscarriage of justice. He was only convicted of the exact same offence as Mohammad Nawaz and Mohammad Irfan - to which he actually pleaded guilty and agreed to forgo a hearing, which was expected to lead to the same punishment as Nawaz and Irfan.
But the Judge at that Tribunal refused to accept Umar Akmal's legal choice to forgo a hearing and be directly sentenced, and tried to hold an unlawful hearing at which Umar Akmal was not legally represented. When Akmal was unable to defend himself, he tripled the standard sentence to 36 months.
Khokhar than halved that on appeal to 18 months - still 900% longer than Nawaz' sentence for the exact same offence, and 50% longer than Mohammad Irfan, again for the exact same offence.
Finally it has got to competent jurors at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. And in an abject humiliation for the PCB, they have found that the original tribunal broke its own procedures by trying to force Umar Akmal into a hearing when he had legitimately accepted the charge and to have no hearing. And they have found that the original tribunal's ban was vastly excessive - THREE TIMES the reasonable sentence - and have also overturned the disgraced Khokhar's verdict too.
You might recall that Umar Akmal's original appeal was given by the PCB to disgraced former Supreme Court Justice Khokhar, who had himself been found to have illegally been sworn in as a Supreme Court Justice, after which he resigned before he could be sacked.
Umar Akmal's original tribunal produced a comical miscarriage of justice. He was only convicted of the exact same offence as Mohammad Nawaz and Mohammad Irfan - to which he actually pleaded guilty and agreed to forgo a hearing, which was expected to lead to the same punishment as Nawaz and Irfan.
But the Judge at that Tribunal refused to accept Umar Akmal's legal choice to forgo a hearing and be directly sentenced, and tried to hold an unlawful hearing at which Umar Akmal was not legally represented. When Akmal was unable to defend himself, he tripled the standard sentence to 36 months.
Khokhar than halved that on appeal to 18 months - still 900% longer than Nawaz' sentence for the exact same offence, and 50% longer than Mohammad Irfan, again for the exact same offence.
Finally it has got to competent jurors at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. And in an abject humiliation for the PCB, they have found that the original tribunal broke its own procedures by trying to force Umar Akmal into a hearing when he had legitimately accepted the charge and to have no hearing. And they have found that the original tribunal's ban was vastly excessive - THREE TIMES the reasonable sentence - and have also overturned the disgraced Khokhar's verdict too.
