KARACHI, May 17: The Sindh High Court on Friday issued notices to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and others in a petition filed by former skipper Rashid Latif against Zaka Ashraf’s appointment as PCB chairman.

A division bench headed by Justice Maqbool Baqar also issued notice to the PCB chairman, secretary of the ministry of inter-provincial coordination and the federal law officer and adjourned the hearing to May 29.

The petitioner stated that he was aggrieved by the appointment of the chairman who was now appointed through the PCB governing board via a nomination committee comprising two members of the board and two representatives of the patron.

He reckoned that the entire selection procedure of appointing the chairman was undemocratic, arbitrary and unconstitutional.

Rashid submitted that in 2012 he had filed a constitutional petition challenging the previous constitution of the PCB which bore fruit when the PCB succumbed to the prayer for forming a new constitution.

However, Rashid said, the procedure for appointing the PCB chairman remained unconstitutional and against the settled norms of transparency and democracy.

In the present age, the former skipper emphasised, when democracy was the order of the day and power by way of elections was the norm, the PCB chairman continued to be appointed in the most undemocratic, arbitrary, capricious and unconstitutional manner.

He said that the appointment of the chairman ought to be made by way of elections amongst representatives of the cricket associations or members of the region in order to ensure complete transparency.

Such a system would entail accountability throughout the hierarchy and promote a healthy, transparent and accountable environment for the betterment and development of Pakistan cricket, he underlined.

Regretting that the PCB chairman was now nominated by the patron without any criteria or electoral process, the former Test cricketer prayed to the court to declare the appointment of Zaka Ashraf as unconstitutional.