By IANS,
Lahore: The Pakistani government Saturday barred the chief election commissioner (CEC) and the panel’s secretary from visiting India to protest the snubbing of the country’s cricketers at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction.
The CEC, Justice (retd) Hamid Ali Mirza, and panel secretary Ishtiak Ahmad Khan were about to leave for New Delhi at 2.30 a.m. when they were stopped by the government at Lahore Airport, Online news agency reported, quoting official sources.
Sources said the CEC had been invited by his Indian counterpart for participating in the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Indian republic.
During his six-day stay in India, Mirza was scheduled to meet with a number of officials.
Mirza and Khan later left for Islamabad by road.
Eleven Pakistani cricketers did not find any takers at the IPL auction in Mumbai earlier this week, sparking outrage in this country.
As an immediate fallout of this, the visit of a Pakistani parliamentary delegation to India was cancelled.
Pakistan tried to raise the issue with the Indian government but was categorically told the sports ministry had nothing to do with the IPL, which was a purely commercial venture.