Caught out?: SC accepts petition against Zaka Ashraf

New PCB chief accused of malpractice and corruption.


Qaiser Zulfiqar October 15, 2011

ISLAMABAD: To use cricket terminology, the incoming Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf is facing an umpire’s review before he has even faced a ball.

The Supreme Court on Friday accepted a petition questioning Ashraf’s appointment as president of Zarai Taraqiate Bank Limited (ZTBL), the post he has held for over three years. The court issued notices to federal secretaries, the State Bank of Pakistan and others stakeholders, before adjourning until November 14.

A three member bench of the court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, heard the petition, which claims that Ashraf was a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Pakistan Peoples Party when he was appointed chairman of the bank. This would be a transgression of the rules, as political office holders are barred from holding the position of chairman of ZTBL.

Additionally, the petition states that Ashraf was not appointed purely on merit, but rather as a political favour. The move was, it is claimed, opposed by the State Bank, only for the federal finance ministry to force it through.

The petition also alleges that Ashraf made illegal appointments during his presidency. Thirty-two cases were highlighted from an internal ZTBL audit by Advocate Mian Abdul Rauf, who is acting for the petitioner, Senior Executive Vice President of ZTBL Mohammad Nadeem Chohan. Allegations of further malpractice and corruption during Ashraf’s tenure were also made in the petition.

Although ZTBL is meant to aid agriculture in Pakistan, during Ashraf’s time as president the bank oversaw significant losses in the sector and a decline in growth, the petition alleges.

Ashraf served a full three-year term at the bank before being granted a year-long extension on September 28, 2011.

President Asif Zardari has approved Ashraf’s appointment as the new chairman of the PCB, though with this case in the Supreme Court the move has failed to provide the breath of fresh air Pakistan cricket fans had wanted. Instead of celebrating a new administration after the controversial chairmanship of Ijaz Butt, followers of the game will now be wondering if the new man, Zaka Ashraf, plays with a straight bat.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2011.

COMMENTS (20)

Farooq | 12 years ago | Reply @Asim: I don't agree with that. Surely SC has not done what a common man was expecting of it. There is a lot of mess in the bureaucracy. They are corrupt plus they have to side with the Government . SC wanted (I think) to move step by step and to reach the right place (providing justice to the ordinary person) and along the road at the same time correct the attitude of the Government + Government machinery which has not happened so far. How unfortunate. Benefit of the doubt goes (in my view) to the SC
Asim | 12 years ago | Reply

I think the present SC only hear cases which have media-importance.

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