KARACHI - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is concerned about the fact that the
ICC could suspend the country’s membership with the game’s governing body if the
Islamabad High Court did not review its recent judgment on the affairs of the
PCB.
In its intra-court appeal filed in the Islamabad High Court, the PCB
expressed fear that the court orders could jeopardise the national team’s
participation in international competitions. “And Pakistan’s failure to fulfil
international commitments, might also result in the suspension of its
membership, ” PCB said in its appeal.
The PCB filed the appeal on behalf of
its chief operating officer Subhan Ahmad against the judgment given by IHC judge
Justice Shaukat Aziz earlier this week on a constitutional writ petition filed
by former coach of the Army cricket team, Nadeem Suddle.
The IHC in its
detailed judgment not only declared illegal the election of Zaka Ashraf as PCB
chief but also stopped Sethi from exercising full powers and declared all
decisions taken by him as null and void.
It also ordered the Election
Commission of Pakistan to hold fresh elections for the PCB chairman’s post
within 90 days, besides passing some other directives which stipulated the
inclusion of a journalist, commentator, and cricket enthusiast on the national
selection committee and the complete audit of the Board accounts of the last
five years by the Auditor General of Pakistan. The PCB in its appeal said that
in the petition of Nadeem Suddle there was no mention of the authorities of
acting chairman for conducting the administrative affairs of the Board. It
maintained that it was beyond the jurisdiction of any court to give the Election
Commission any responsibility in such a case.
“We have maintained in our
petition that the court verdict would result in the suspension of the Board
activities. The national team would be unable to participate in international
contests, if selection committees were not constituted, ” PCB legal advisor
Tafazzul Rizvi said. “And Pakistan’s failure to fulfill international
commitments, might also result in the suspension of its membership, ” he
added.
The petition said the Board would also be unable to sell the
broadcasting rights if it was deprived of complete authority.
The petition
further stated that the court had set a 90-day deadline for the election of a
new chairman. However, it was impossible to hold fresh polls in such a short
time as in many regions and districts the tenures of the office bearers had been
completed, many office bearers were working on an ad hoc basis and many cases
were in courts. “There are bleak chances of the completion of the electoral
college in the near future, ” it said.
