December 03, 2006	Sunday	Ziqa'ad 11, 1427

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LAHORE, Dec 2: The general council of the Pakistan Bar Council on Saturday endorsed its executive committee decision of re-election of Supreme Curt Bar Association on Dec 18.

It observed that this was the most suitable way to resolve the dispute that had arisen after the elections on Oct 31.

According to a member, who attended the meeting held in Islamabad, the 22-member general council, whose meeting was chaired by vice-chairperson Ali Ahmad Kurd, was divided on the issue as 12 members voted in favour of the executive committee decision while six opposed it. Two members remained neutral while two others, Senator Dr Khalid Ranjha and Said Rehman, abstained.

The general council meeting was requisitioned by seven PBC members who included those who voted against the decision of re-polling. Dr Khalid Ranjha was also a signatory to the requisition.

The matter to resolve the dispute was remanded to the PBC by the Supreme Court which directed the seven-member executive committee to decide the best course of action so that the unity of the legal fraternity was not damaged.

The executive committee also decided that SCBA vice-president from Sindh Khwaja Naveed Ahmad would be acting president as directed by the Supreme Court in its decision last week. The PBC committee also decided that joint secretary Sardar Mohammad Qazi would be the SCBA’s acting secretary for day-to-day functioning. Both the office-bearers will retain their temporary offices till re-polling on Dec 18.

The general council also decided that the re-polling would be supervised by the Pakistan Bar Council which would constitute a five-member election commission whose members would be drawn from all provinces.

The PBC executive committee said in its decision that circumstances made them to decide in favour of re-polling because this was the most suitable way to keep the legal community united. It said that the committee found no election record, except ballot papers from polling stations established at Abbotabad and Bahawalpur. Similarly, the tabulated sheets from all the seven polling stations in the country were also missing.

The PBC committee observed that bar election rules were not adhered to in the Oct 31 election as the outgoing SCBA did not allow the election commission to function after its formation. It said that the rules did not allow a recount of votes neither was there a provision for the returning officer. But both of them were practised in violation of rules.

The committee said in its decision that SCBA outgoing president Malik Mohammad Qayyum and secretary Ali Akbar Qureshi worked beyond Oct 31 which was against the rules.

The former declared him as the returning officer and issued a notification on Nov 4 and the latter also issued a notification on Nov 2. Both the notifications, according to the committee, were void and carried no legal weight in the light of the SCBA rules.

Another ground given by the PBC committee was that all votes cast by lawyers across Sindh in Karachi were excluded from recount on grounds that ballot papers were not singed by the provincial returning officer (the president Sindh High Court Bar Association) but the secretary. But the returning officer included for recount of vote ballot papers from Lahore although he suffered from the identical legal infirmity.

The PBC committee observed the whole SCBA election exercise seemed to be wrapped in a serious doubt.