Rizwan loses court bid against NCCIA probe, takes phone seizure to the ICC

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Aalia Neelum has dismissed Mohammad Rizwan's petition against the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency, and told the batter to respond to the agency's notices rather than have them set aside.

Rizwan filed the writ petition on Wednesday through his lawyers. It argued that the NCCIA had no jurisdiction over him, because allegations of corruption involving a cricketer belong with the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit. The court dismissed it after a short hearing on Thursday without going into detailed reasoning.

What the agency is looking at

The NCCIA is investigating alleged online betting and gambling around Pakistan cricket, including whether information was leaked from the Pakistan dressing room during the Test series in England.

No finding has been announced against Rizwan. No charge has been framed. His lawyer, Qazi Umair Ali, has said any corruption matter involving a cricketer should sit with the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit instead, and Rizwan has called the allegations misconceived, concocted, illusionary and vague.

The phone

The part of this that has travelled furthest on Pakistani timelines is how the phone was taken.

According to the petition, Rizwan was called down to a hotel lobby at 1am in London, straight after Pakistan's defeat at Lord's, and handed over his mobile on the understanding that it would come back within three hours. His lawyers say it has not been returned since.

That is the point he has now put to the ICC. Rizwan has gone through the ACU's online portal to ask whether the ICC or the England and Wales Cricket Board had any role in the seizure, and whether what was done to him followed the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. The code sets out how a player's devices may be requested and handled in an investigation, which is the standard he is asking to be measured against.

He is not the only one

Imam-ul-Haq has also appeared before the NCCIA. He answered questionnaires rather than going to court, which is the route Rizwan has now been directed towards. No official findings have been announced against either player.

Separately, the PCB opened an internal disciplinary review after the whitewash in England, looking at reported conduct and discipline issues among the players. That review and the NCCIA inquiry are different processes, and it is worth keeping them apart when reading the headlines.

What happens next

With the petition gone, the notices stand. Rizwan has to reply to the agency. The two open questions are what the ICC tells him about the London seizure, and whether the NCCIA's inquiry produces anything beyond an inquiry.

Until it does, the position is unchanged: allegations, a live investigation, a player who denies everything, and no charge.

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