January 25, 2008	Friday	Muharram 15, 1429

HYDERABAD, Jan 24: The election committee of the High Court Bar Association (HCBA) Hyderabad accepted nomination papers of 18 candidates on Thursday.

According to the committee, Abdul Rehman Sheikh has been elected unopposed as vice-president while nomination form of chairman of Sindh Bar Council's executive committee Fazal Qadir Memon has been rejected for the post of president.

The committee ruled in its order that Mr Memon was not qualified for contesting elections under Rule 13(b) which required a lawyer to be practicing in high court for a period of 20 years in order to qualify for running for the post of president.

Mr Memon has vowed to challenge the decision in the Sindh Bar Council.

The committee observed that Mr Memon’s professional standing, according to his date of enrolment as an advocate of high court, came to 13 years hence his nomination papers could not be accepted.

The committee accepted forms of Abdul Sattar Kazi and Mohammad Yousuf Leghari for the post of president; Abdul Rehman Sheikh for vice-president; Allah Bachayo Soomro, Fazal Qadir Memon and Mohammad Zahid Chohan for general secretary, Ayaz Hussain Tunio, Khalilur Rehman Memon and Basharat Ali Memon for joint secretary, Syed Jawed Shah Bukhari and Mohammad Zahid Chohan for library secretary; Haji Ahmed Memon, Nadir Khan, Pir S. Mehmood Iqbal Jaffery, Khalilur Rehman Memon, Abdul Majeed Bhatti, Syed Hammad Ali Shah and Shaheen Tabassum for members of managing committee.