November 22, 2006	Wednesday	Shawwal 29, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 21: Accepting the supervisory authority of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the highest body of lawyers to decide in two weeks a pending appeal regarding election to the seat of the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).

An 11-member larger bench set aside the two conflicting orders -- Nov 7 PBC interim order of declaring Munir A. Malik as SCBA president and stay granted by the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court on Nov 8 in which Raja Haq Nawaz was accepted to be the president of the association.

In a short order announced after nine-hour proceedings, the apex court held that the seven-member executive committee of the PBC should dispose of the appeal of Mr Malik in two weeks, while newly elected vice-president from Sindh Khawaja Naveed would hold the office of the SCBA chief during the period.

Headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, the bench was hearing an appeal of Mr Malik, who had contested the election but his opponent Mr Nawaz had assumed the office of the SCBA president following the Nov 8 order.

Despite efforts to prevent further division by finding a common ground, the stubborn positions taken by the two rival groups compelled the apex court to decide the case on merit.

A number of proposals were floated during the hearing but were not acceptable to one side or the other.

Legal counsel for Mr Nawaz, Akram Sheikh, at one stage suggested fresh elections under the supervision of the election commission without any interference by the PBC, stating that he was making the offer as an officer of the court and not on instructions from his client.

The petitioner’s counsel Abdul Hafeez Pirzada was quick to accept the offer.

This prompted Justice Javed Iqbal, a member of the bench, to observe that holding of fresh election by the election commission would require an amendment to the constitution. Besides, no elections held by the commission had ever received 100 per cent acceptance in the country.

Mr Pirzada requested the bench to set aside both the interim order of the PBC and the high court stay. He said the high court should be directed to decide the matter within a certain time. However, no restraint should be imposed on the statutory body of the PBC, he argued, assuring the bench that his client in the meantime would not approach the council for any order. However, if the high court failed to settle the dispute within the stipulated period, the council should be allowed to intervene, he said.Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, representing the PBC, stated that the council was independent and the highest judicial body of the enlightened community of advocates but the high court stay had restrained its statutory authority, which the council was not ready to abdicate. The council would fight every inch to protect its statutory role, he said.