The Islamabad High Court today admitted for hearing a petition challenging the nomination of Najam Sethi to the Board of Governors of Pakistan Cricket Board.
The IHC issued notices to the respondents in the petition in which the applicant has pointed out that since former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif nominated Sethi and Arif Ejaz as new members of the PCB BoG just before his disqualification by the Supreme Court, his order is null and void.
The petitioner has taken the plea that with Sharif no longer prime minister and patron-in[chief of the PCB, no nominations should be made for the BOG.
Sethi is tipped to succeed to Shaharyar Khan as PCB Chairman after the latter completes his three-year tenure on August 8.
Sharif, as patron-in-chief, also appointed a retired judge Afzal Haider as election commissioner of the PCB to hold the elections for the post of chairman.
Under the existing PCB constitution, only members of the BOG can contest the chairman's election and the 10-member BOG elects the new chairman.
With Khan due to step down on August 8, the IHC has set the next date of hearing for August 10.
Sources in the PCB said that the election commissioner might call a special meeting of the BOG on August 9 to hold the elections but a constitutional problem that would arise is that the Fata region which will have a representative on the new BOG itself is being run by an ad-hoc body appointed by the Board.
Sethi has served as chairman in 2013-14 and stepped down after a long drawn out legal battle in the Supreme Court which had approved a new constitution for the Board under which Shaharyar Khan was elected chairman.
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