LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ruled that the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB’s) independent adjudicator acted in violation of due process while nullifying the 2023 elections of zonal and regional cricket associations (RCA) of Islamabad.

Justice Malik Javid Iqbal Wains issued the ruling allowing a petition filed by Shakil Ahmed Sheikh, who had been elected unopposed as president of the Islamabad RCA in March 2023.

According to the petition, after the federal government restored the PCB Constitution 2014 through a notification issued in December 2022, elections were conducted for district, zonal and regional cricket associations across the country. The petitioner was elected unopposed as president of the Islamabad RCA through a notification dated March 24, 2023.

However, several cricket clubs challenged the electoral process before the Islamabad High Court (IHC), alleging manipulation of voter lists, unlawful alteration of club status and conflict of interest on the part of Sheikh, who was also a member of the PCB Management Committee.

The IHC later referred the disputes to the PCB’s Independent Adjudicator, who on May 27, 2025, declared the Islamabad zonal elections and the RCA election null and void. A day later, the PCB’s chief operating officer restrained the petitioner and other office-bearers from performing their functions.

Advocate Taffazul Haider Rizvi argued on behalf of the petitioner that the proceedings before the adjudicator were conducted in a questionable manner and without proper consideration of the petitioner’s stance. He argued that the adjudicator exhibited bias and predisposition against the petitioner.

The lawyers for the PCB and other respondents defended the adjudicator’s decision and also questioned the maintainability of the petition before the LHC.

However, Justice Wains ruled that the petition was maintainable under Article 199 of the Constitution. The judge observed that the adjudicator ignored several foundational objections raised by PCB itself. The judge further held that the adjudicator violated the IHC directions by deciding the matter without recording evidence, even though the dispute involved disputed questions of fact requiring evidentiary determination.

Justice Wains observed that the adjudicator failed to implement and hear elected office-bearers whose rights were directly affected by the decision. The judge described the omission as a violation of the principles of natural justice and the constitutional guarantees of due process and fair trial under Articles 4 and 10-A of the Constitution.

He also rejected the adjudicator’s finding that Sheikh, the petitioner, suffered from a conflict of interest because he was a member of the PCB Management Committee. He observed that no provision in the PCB Constitution, Election Regulations, or any governing framework imposed a legal bar on Management Committee members from contesting elections. He noted that two other members of the same committee had also contested and won elections for regional cricket associations without objection.

The judge asserted that adverse findings affecting electoral rights must be based on express legal provisions and cogent evidence, not presumptions or selective application of standards. The judge also questioned the adjudicator’s selective invalidation of only the Islamabad zonal elections while leaving other zonal elections intact.

The judge set aside the impugned judgment along with the consequential restraining letter issued by the PCB.

For future elections, Justice Wains directed the PCB to ensure that the process of scrutiny, preparation of voter lists and determination of club status and voter eligibility was undertaken strictly in accordance with the applicable rules.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2026