**Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi was back as the "rightful" head of the board after the Supreme Court accepted a petition from the PCB that challenged the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ruling against Sethi.

Sethi, speaking to reporters outside the court in Lahore, said: "The PCB petition has been accepted by the Supreme Court which has overruled the IHC's judgement. This effectively means that the management committee is in charge of the board again and since I am the head of the committee, I am back as the rightful chief of the PCB."

According to Sethi, the SC had also ordered the PCB to implement its new constitution and start the election process within the next seven days.

"The Prime Minister, who is the patron of the board, will have to name an election commissioner and acting chairman prior to the elections. That's when the management committee and I will be relieved of our duties," Sethi added.

Sethi confirmed an earlier report stating that he had no desire to contest the forthcoming PCB elections.

"The Prime Minister has nominated two people for the board of governors and I am one of them. The Supreme Court has accepted this. I plan to serve on the board of governors alone and have no plans of contesting the elections. I never harboured any such ambitions in the first place."

Sethi said he would continue to perform his duties as the chairman until an acting chief takes over.

A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Justice Mian Saqib Nisar heard the case relating to the board's chairmanship at its Lahore registry.

The case involved incumbent PCB chairman Najam Sethi and Zaka Ashraf with the latter being reinstated to head the board by the Islamabad High Court (IHC). The inter-provincial coordination ministry had however filed a review petition in the apex court against the IHC's decision to reinstate Ashraf.