PCB acting chief Najam Sethi gets legal reprieve

In a major reprieve to the Pakistan Cricket Board, a divisional bench of the Islamabad High Court restored Najam Sethi as its acting Chairman and also allowed the interim management committee appointed by the government to resume its functioning.

The decisions were announced after the bench heard the appeals filed by the PCB and the government in the capital city with well-known lawyer, Asma Jahangir making a forceful argument before the judges in the court.

"Asma Jahangir, who is representing the government in the case, gave a impassioned argument lasting some 90 minutes which appeared to convince the divisional bench that until a decision is taken on the appeals, Sethi and the interim management committee must be allowed to resume work," an eye witness who was in court said.

The legal advisor of the Board, Tafazzul Rizvi, said the divisional bench will now hold a hearing on November 7 and until then it also ordered that no funds should be allocated by the board to hold any elections.

Justice (retd) Munir A Sheikh of the Supreme Court who was last week ordered by the Islamabad High Court to conduct elections of the Board in third week of November told reporters in Lahore that he had stopped work following the order of the divisional bench.

"It would not be prudent to carry on work on having elections until the divisional bench reaches a decision or gives a detailed order," he said.

Justice Shaukat Siddiqui had last month suspended Sethi from working and also put aside a government order to appoint an interim management committee for three months to run cricket affairs.

The divisional bench at its initial hearing on Oct 29 had decided not to stay the order of the IHC but on Monday changed its decision.