' AYESHA A. MALIK, J. --- Through this Petition, the Petitioner has impugned the letter dated 19.11.2013 issued by the Respondent No, 1, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
2. The facts of the case are that the Petitioner is the president of an active club i,e, 'Baghbanpura Cricket Club and has submitted his nomination papers for the seat of Secretary of the North Zone Cricket Association. The Governing Body of the Respondent No, 1 decided on 8.5.2013 that interim committees of Regions and District/Zones would facilitate the holding of elections at Regional/District/Zonal Cricket Associations. This appointment of interim committees for Regions and Districts was challenged through several constitutional petitions where-after this Court ordered on 20.5.2013 that the role of interim committee shall be limited to make arrangement for holding of elections and facilitating the same. The committee can also look after the day to day matters of the Associations till the elected office bearers take charge of the Associations. The elections have not been held yet the Respondent No, 1 issued the impugned letter dated 19.11.2013 whereby the interim committees were dissolved with immediate effect and the PCB Domestic Cricket Department are to manage and regulate the affairs of the LCCA/LRCA until the electoral process was completed. The grievance of the Petitioner is that by dissolving the interim committees the process of transparency has been done away with male fide reasons as the Respondent No, 1 wants to control the election results. The strength of the argument of the learned counsel for the Petitioner is based on the order dated 20.5.2013 in WP No, 121.66/2013 as he argued that the Court had allowed the continuation of the interim committees until the finalization of the election process and the new elected office bearers take charge. Learned counsel for the Petitioner argued that the interim committee was to continue until the new office bearers took charge and it was only then the interim committees would dissolve. Hence the Petitioner is aggrieved by the fact that his nomination and participation in the election is adversely affected by the impugned letter as the Respondent No, 1 will only allow persons of its own choosing to succeed in the District/Zonal elections.
3. Report and parawise comments have been filed by the Respondents. Learned counsel for the Respondents has raised a preliminary objection that the Petitioner claims to be the president of the Baghbanpura Cricket Club', however nothing has been appended with the instant Writ Petition to show that he is the president or that he has been authorized by the club to institute the instant petition. Furthermore he has raised the objection that the Petition is not maintainable against an executive decision. Further argued that there is nothing in the orders of this Court dated 20.5.2013 in WP No, 12166/2013 wherein the Respondent No, 1 was directed to continue with the interim committees. The interim committees were set up to ensure fair and transparent elections by way of an executive decision. Subsequently the Respondent No, 1 found that many of the members of the interim committees were themselves contesting the elections, hence in order to ensure fairness in the election process, the interim committees were dissolved and the matter was handed over to the Domestic Cricket Department. Learned counsel argued that these are executive decisions and as such cannot be challenged in a constitutional petition. Learned counsel further argued that these decisions are made in the best interest of the game to ensure transparency in the election process.
4. Heard learned counsel for the parties and reviewed the record available on the file.
5. The basic objection with respect to the authorization of the Petitioner is based on merit consideration as the Petitioner has filed this petition in his individual capacity as a contestant in the election for the seat of Secretary North Zone Cricket Association, hence no requirement of authorization to be filed by the Cricket Club of which the Petitioner asserts to be the president.
6. The question before this Court is whether the Respondent No, 1 could have issued the impugned letter and done away with the interim committees that it had originally set up. The interim committees were constituted vide letter dated 9.5.2013 to facilitate the election process of the Regional Cricket Associations. The committees were not involved in any substantive work other than facilitating the election process. The committees were also to look after day to day routine matters till such time that the election process was completed and the new office bearers would take charge. In WP No, 12166/2013 the constitution of the interim committees was challenged and it was held in order dated 20.5.2013 that without prejudice to the right of the petitioners to raise objections regarding legality of appointment of the interim committee, and without recording any finding on the same, that the role of the said committee shall be strictly limited to making arrangements for holding of the elections of the associations and facilitating the same. The committee shall not directly or indirectly take any steps for disqualification of any member/association. Further, the elections shall be held on a date within one week commencing 18th June, 2013. The exact date shall be fixed by the Election Commission in strict compliance with the requirements of the Constitution of PCB. The Committee may also look after routine day-to- day matters of Associations till the elected office bearers take charge of the Associations. This order of 20.5.2013 was upheld in ICA No, 549/2013 on 3.6.2013. A review of both the orders shows that there was no direction to maintain the interim committees. Based on the submissions made by the Respondent PCB the constitution of the interim committees was maintained for a limited purpose.
Subsequently the Respondent No, 1 keeping in mind the changed circumstances issued the impugned letter dated 19.11.2013 wherein the interim committees were dissolved with immediate effect and the role of the interim committees was handed over to the PCB Domestic Cricket Department until the completion of the electoral process. The Petitioner has no vested right on the basis of which it can claim that the decision to constitute the interim committees should continue until the election process is completed. To the mind of this Court the decision was taken in order to ensure transparency and fairness in the election process. With the same spirit in mind, the decision was reviewed and the work of the interim committees was handed over to the PCB Domestic Cricket Department for the same reasons, to ensure fairness and transparency in the election process. The explanation rendered by the learned counsel for the Respondents that the members of the interim committees themselves are participating in the election process, therefore allowing them to facilitate the election process and allow them to run day to day affairs of the Regional Cricket Association would adversely affect the election process is a justified reason for handing over the work of the interim committees to the PCB Domestic Cricket Department. Furthermore the decision to constitute interim committees is a policy decision made by the Respondent No, 1 and the impugned letter dated 19.11.2013 is also a policy decision made by the Respondent No,
1. The Petitioner has failed to show the mala fide of the Respondent No, 1 and has also failed to show how he is adversely affected by the impugned letter. His primary objective is to participate in a fair and transparent election. Nothing has been brought on the record or argued before this Court on the basis of which the Petitioner has been able to show how the election process is being managed or manipulated by the Respondents and in particular consequent to the decision in the impugned letter.
7. Under the circumstances, no case for interference is made. Petition is dismissed.