Lahore: Former Pakistan Test batsman Ijaz Ahmed, charged in a forgery case, has been allowed by a local court to remain on bail until the next date of hearing on November 10.
Judicial magistrate, Imtiaz Ahmed didn`t issue any arrest warrants after several hearings of the case, which dates back to March 2009 when Ijaz was first arrested in the forgery case.
Two local businessmen had filed a police complaint in 2009 against Ijaz that he issued them forged cheques of around Rs 10 million for a property deal.
Ijaz, 44, spent nearly six weeks in jail until May, 2009 but the court later accepted his plea to be allowed bail.
The former hard hitting batsman said he would be appealing the decision.
"I will appeal through my lawyer and try to get my name cleared in this case, which is a false one to defame me," he said.
Ijaz, who played 60 Tests and 250 One-day Internationals, remains employed with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) at its National Cricket Academy in Lahore. He has also served as fielding coach of the national team until recently.
This is not the first time that a Pakistani cricketer has ended up in a court case. Previously Wasim Akram, Imran Nazir, Akram Raza also had to fight cases when petitions were filed against them by citizens over issues.
Raza, a former Test spinner, only last month was cleared by a local court in Lahore of being involved in a betting syndicate after he was picked up by the police during a raid at a bookmakers den.
Ijaz, who has also served as a national selector, said that he had been given lot of support by everyone since the case was first filed against him.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, October 23, 2012, 09:47