MM News

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Bar Association’s (SCBA) annual elections were held on Thursday as members elected the new office bearers for 2021-22.

As per the unofficial results of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) election 2021-22, Independent Group (also known as late Asma Jehangir Group) candidate advocate Supreme Court Ahsan Bhoon was elected as a president.

According to the details, Bhoon bagged 1,548 votes whereas Professional Lawyer’s Group (also known as Hamid Khan Group) candidate Sardar Latif Khosa got 920 votes. Under the rotation policy, this year president’s seat was given to Punjab.

In his victory speech, Bhoon pledged to defend the legal community, the supremacy of the constitution and end division in the judiciary. He also pledged to strengthen the country’s democratic institutions. Meanwhile, Khawar Ikram Bhatti and Wasim Mumtaz Malik of Azad Group were elected vice president and secretary of Punjab, respectively.

Earlier, the polling for SCBA election 2021-22 started from 8.30 AM and continued till 5.00 PM on Thursday. More than 3,200 members used their right of vote in this election, out of which 1,329 voters were from Lahore.

The election board of SCBA had set up polling stations in Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur, Karachi, Peshawar Quetta and other cities. The chairman election board Afrasyab Khan will formally announce the complete result on November 3.

Both candidates belonged to Punjab and both have political affiliation with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Azam Tarar Advocate is an active member of Independent Lawyers Group and is the main supporter of Bhoon.

Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem and his close aides backed Khosa. The Insaf Lawyers Forum Chairman Senator Ali Zafar is campaigning for Bhoon. Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, who is also a lawyer himself, had announced his support for Bhoon.

Bhoon was appointed as a Lahore High Court Judge during the lawyers movement against the ouster of then Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. He was among more than 100 judges, who were ousted on July 31, 2009 and became active in bar politics again.

PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif congratulated Bhoon on his landslide victory, calling it a good sign for the struggle against the supremacy of the constitution. He said the win was a sign of the determination of the legal community to never compromise on democratic principles.

PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif also congratulated the Asma Jahangir Group, candidate Ahsan Bhoon, and the panel on their victory in the bar elections.