Petition: ‘Nawaz can’t create Pakistan Cricket Board ad hoc committee’

The Express Tribune

A writ petition has been filed at the Lahore High Court challenging the constitution of an ad hoc committee by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to run the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) affairs. Petitioner Aftab Maqsood said that the prime minister, now also the patron-in-chief of the PCB, was not authorised to constitute an interim management committee. He said that the prime minister had acted beyond his powers. Maqsood said PCB elections should be held without delay. He asked the court to set aside the interim management committee and direct the prime minister to hold elections. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in the face of two looming deadlines, dissolved the PCB and constituted an interim management committee to run the game’s affairs in the country. The committee comprised Najam Sethi, former cricketers Zaheer Abbas and Haroon Rasheed, former PCB chairman Shahryar Khan and former team manager Naved Cheema. The move came a few days before a meeting with the International Cricket Council (ICC) in London on October 18, which also corresponded with a court-imposed deadline to hold fresh elections in the PCB. Former PCB caretaker chairman Sethi led the IMC after being ‘unanimously elected’ as chairman by the members. He represented Pakistan at the ICC Board meeting in London on Friday and Saturday. “An Interim Management Committee (IMC) has been constituted to ensure that PCB remains enabled to continue to perform day-to-day domestic and international functions for the promotion of the game and in line with the directions of the court,” said a PCB media release, “The supersession of the Board shall remain in force for a period of not more than 90 days unless extended by the Patron [Sharif].” Sethi was named as interim chairman by the prime minister in June to replace Zaka Ashraf who was suspended by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) after a writ petition on his election as PCB chairman. However, the IHC, through another judgment in July, curtailed Sethi’s power and asked to hold fresh election within 90 days –October 18 being the deadline. But the PCB was unable to comply due to complications pertaining to elections of regional associations.