LHC dismisses petitions against PCB constitution

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board got a sigh of relief as the Lahore High Court dismissed all applications/petitions against the new constitution, enabling the PCB to go ahead with detailed announcement of the new first-class cricket structure.

A PCB spokesman told ‘The News’ following the LHC’s dismissal of all petitions against the constitution that the cricket board is set to announce details on the new domestic cricket format and formation of provincial associations in the next 48 hours.

“You can say that we are ready to announce the details. We are already late,” he said.

Meanwhile, the meeting of the PCB’s Board of Governors (BoG) has been convened on Friday (tomorrow) to consider other issues. “The BoG that was there before the approval of the new constitution will continue working till the formation of the new one. More importantly we have now focused on the first-class cricket that gets into action in the second week of September,” the PCB spokesman said.

Meanwhile during Wednesday’s proceedings, a second attempt was made by the petitioners to challenge and suspend the operation of the new PCB constitution by filing a fresh case. The Lahore High Court refused to grant a stay and issued notices to the PCB to present its response at the next date of hearing. No date of hearing was fixed.

Additionally, the Lahore High Court has dismissed more than a dozen cases relating to the election commission as well as grievances of terminated employees.

PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani said: “The PCB welcomes the judgment of the Honourable Lahore High Court Judge Justice Shahid Waheed, who dismissed the application to suspend the PCB Constitution 2019.

“It was obvious to all the knowledgeable and passionate cricket fans and followers that the intentions of the petitioners were malafide and were aimed at disrupting Pakistan cricket activities and bringing embarrassment to the PCB and the country.

“The petitioners had approached the court to protect their personal and financial interests with complete disregard to the fact that their action could have resulted in severe impact on the 2019-20 domestic cricket programme. This ploy has been defeated on solid legal grounds and the PCB will now swiftly move to announce the new domestic structure and commence the 2019-20 season on 14 September.

“The 2019-20 season will be a season of celebration for Pakistan’s cricket fans as we host Sri Lanka for three ODIs and as many T20Is from 27 September to 9 October. Furthermore, high-powered delegations from Cricket Australia and the England and Wales Cricket Board will be visiting in September and October respectively as part of our preparations for their future tours to Pakistan.

“The honourable court’s decision now provides complete clarity. The PCB will now finalise arrangements for the 2019-20 season without further delays.”

Meanwhile, only a written decision (that has yet to come) by the court will provide details on the fate of three coaches and a general manager who were reinstated by the Lahore High Court in the last four days.

“We have already been reinstated and the court has already directed us to approach the PCB. In case the PCB has other ideas we will go back to the court. The position will be clear once we get the decision in writing,” one of the coaches when contacted said.