Ashraf hiring top lawyers to defend himself

Karachi: The suspended Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Zaka Ashraf is hiring top lawyers of the country to defend him in the Islamabad High Court which has stopped him from working in his present capacity.

Sources close to the suspended PCB chief said two well-known lawyers, Hafeez Pirzada and Imtiaz Siddiqui, a former Lahore High Court judge were being considered to defend Ashraf in the case. The High Court had barred Ashraf from working as PCB chief on a petition filed by a former coach of the Army cricket team which challenges his election and the election process held under the new constitution. Normally, the PCB`s legal advisor Tafazzul Rizvi looks after all legal matters of the Board and defends the Board. But, the source said since Rizvi is part of the PCB`s legal team and his participation might be questioned as Ashraf will not be the incumbent PCB chief during the next hearing on June 13. Ashraf is facing a lot of challenge as nearly nine regional associations have come out in the open against him and also held a joint press conference in Lahore challenging the whole election process through which he was elected on May 9 for a four-year tenure. They claimed that all the leading associations were ignored and not allowed to take part in the election process. They also said that most of them have yet to receive copies of the new constitution which the PCB claims has been approved by the International Cricket Council. PTI