KARACHI, Nov 4: Several Sindh Bar Council members resented on Thursday promulgation of an ordinance to amend the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act.

Former SBC vice-chairman Mustafa Lakhani and members M. Sadiq Hidayatullah, M. Yasin Azad and Mohammad Aqil pointed out that the number of SBC members had been reduced at a time when the council was about to hold its elections. The number of members, increased from 38 to 42 recently, had been reduced 32 to weaken the strength of the regulatory body of the legal profession. Nomination papers had been filed and balloting was to be conducted on Nov 27. The entire process would have to be undertaken afresh, they said.

The SBC members also pointed out that a bill to amend the Act had already been introduced in the National Assembly and was at present pending with its relevant committee. There was no need to promulgate an ordinance instead of adopting the bill in consultation with the legal fraternity. They said the bill contained more or less the same amendments as the ordinance.

They said the number of lawyers was ever on the rise and seats in three districts of Karachi had been increased accordingly.

The increase had been undone. The Khairpur and Larkana districts had been deprived of one seat each in the bar council. Mithi had lost its only seat and Advocate Muzaffar Laghari, who had been elected unopposed to the seat, had lost his membership of the council.

The advocate-general, who is ex officio chairman of the bar council, has, meanwhile, suspended the electoral process in view the decrease in the number of seats up for election. Thursday was fixed for scrutiny of nomination papers. The election date, however, remains unchanged so far.

According to SBC sources, minor adjustments would have to be made in consultation with the outgoing office-bearers and the contestants.