LAHORE, Oct 31: Kamran Murtaza of the Asma Jahangir-led Independent Group was elected president of the Supreme Court Bar Association in the election for 2013-14 held on Thursday.

Mr Murtaza secured 1,032 votes against his main rival, Amanullah Kanrani of the Professional Group led by Hamid Khan. Mr Kanrani obtained 874 votes.

This was the fourth consecutive victory of the Independent Group in SCBA elections.

According to unofficial results, Mr Murtaza and Mr Kanrani secured 436 and 392 votes, respectively, in Lahore, 219 and 118 in Islamabad/Rawalpindi, 115 and 141 in Karachi, 28 and 16 in Abbottabad, 37 and 26 in Bahawalpur, 61 and 59 in Multan, 64 and 55 in Peshawar, 55 and 36 in Quetta, five and 19 in Sukkur and 12 each in Hyderabad.

The third candidate, Rab Nawaz Raja, bagged 58 votes.

The slot of secretary was also notched by the Independent Group’s Asif Mahmood Cheema who got 913 votes. His rivals Azmatullah Chaudhry got 584 votes and Mian Aslam 292.Abdullah Kakar was elected vice-president from Balochistan with 1,048 votes against Jahanzeb Khan Jadoon’s 767.

The Professional Group won only one seat in the bar’s new cabinet. Rana Naeem Sarwar was elected vice-president from Punjab. He obtained 1,008 votes against Shah Abbas Mian’s 850.

Mohammad Sadiq Hidayatullah and Syed Sardar Husain had been elected unopposed as vice-presidents from Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Raja Muqsit Nawaz and Raja Ghazanfar Ali as additional secretary and finance secretary. Official results will be announced on Nov 4.

Speaking after his victory, Mr Murtaza vowed to pursue the policies of his predecessors Asma Jahangir and Yasin Azad and said the bar would keep playing its role for the supremacy of the constitution and rule of law. He alleged that appointment of judges in the Balochistan High Court were not made on merit. The new SCBA president also suggested that Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry should not seek extension in his tenure which would end in December.