Former chief justice of Bangladesh Mahmudul Amin Chowdhury said on Friday he is not in a hurry to appoint the tribunals to deal with the accused of the match-fixing allegations in the Bangladesh Premier League.
The charges relate to an alleged conspiracy within the Dhaka Gladiators franchise to engage in match-fixing and spot-fixing activities during matches in the BPL 2013, as well as failure by the individuals to report approaches made to them to be involved in the conspiracy.
Justice Amin will lead a disciplinary panel of the Bangladesh Cricket Board and form tribunals to hold trial of nine cricketers and officials accused of breaching BCB’s anti-corruption code.
Speaking to the New Age, the former chief justice confirmed his acceptance of the role and said that he is taking time, contrary to several media reports that suggested he already had several names on his mind.
‘I am yet to decide anything regarding the formation of the panel,’ said Amin.
‘It has just begun so there is no point in trying to hurry it up. Let everything go slowly,’ said Amin.
The members of the panel will be selected from three different categories of professionals.
Three members will be appointed from the retired judges of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh or district judges, three from socially well-recognised civilians while the remaining four shall be appointed from persons having expertise in cricket.
It was learnt that Amin will head the 10-member disciplinary panel with the names of Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, Barrister Rafiqul Haque, Azmalul Hossain QC, former national cricket team captain Roquibul Hassan and cricketer Ishtiaque Ahmed, among others, being discussed.
The head of the disciplinary panel is likely to form more than one tribunal to hear the cases.
The BCB will decide how many tribunals will be required.
Since nine people have been charged by the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, there is a possibility of creating three different tribunals to hear the cases.
On August 13, the ICC announced that they have charged seven individuals for fixing-related offences in the second edition of the Bangladesh Premier League and two others for failing to report corrupt approaches made to them.
Those charged for fixing matches could be banned from cricketing activities for a minimum of five years up to lifetime if found guilty while those charged for not reporting corrupt approaches would be banned for a period of one to five years.
All those charged on Tuesday, have 14 days to indicate whether they wish to plead guilty or to defend themselves against the charges brought against them in a full hearing, which would take place before an Anti-Corruption Tribunal convened in accordance with the processes set out in Article 5 of the BCB’s Anti-Corruption Code.
-With New Age input
