High Court issues stay order against PCB chairman elections

The election to determine the new Pakistan Cricket Board chairman will not take place until July 17 with the High Court of Balochistan issuing a stay order against it.

The Court was hearing a case which claimed the governing board of the PCB, which plays a big role in selecting the new chair, was formed in violation of the 2014 constitution. The Court did not hear the PCB's arguments and issued notices to all stakeholders to attend the next session.

On Monday morning - 24 hours before the election that could have led to Zaka Ashraf becoming PCB chairman - a number of writ petitions were filed in various courts in Pakistan to stop the whole thing. The Lahore High Court has admitted at least three petitions, combining them into one hearing, which was adjourned until Tuesday.

The PCB's board is comprised of ten members: four regional representatives, four representatives from services and the two members nominated by the Prime Minister. These members would then conduct a vote to determine the next chairman. Historically, it is the Prime Minister's appointment to the PCB board of governors who becomes the chairman for a three-year term, and Ashraf was the overwhelming favorite.

Najam Sethi was the most recent head of the PCB, but he was a temporary appointment, tasked with bringing back the 2014 constitution. He was working with a management committee and they are the ones who have taken to the courts to contest the elections. They claimed that the PCB board was improperly set up, emphasising that it disregarded a list of nominees that Sethi had put forward.

Sethi's list included Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Rawalpindi but they were named out of the rotation. The PCB election commissioner and acting chairman, Ahmed Shehzad Farooq Rana, rejected them and replaced them with representatives of Larkana, Dera Murad Jamali, Bahawalpur and Hyderabad. This difference of opinion is the reason the matter has been taken to court.

These proceedings are a throwback to 2013 and 2014 when Sethi launched a legal offensive against Ashraf. The pair were involved in a protracted battle for the PCB chairmanship, with the position switching hands several times. Ashraf won in court but was ousted by then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif which led to Sethi taking control.