FAISALABAD: A one-on-one competition will be held on Jan 11 for the Faisalabad District Bar Association (DBA) president office between Tanveerur Rehman Randhawa and Zaffarul Hasan Kamoka. Both candidates are flashing the Lahore High Court bench in Faisalabad.

Both candidates had displayed their election posters, streamers and banners on the bar premises which the election board got removed. Only small cards have been allowed for electioneering.

Mr Randhawa has served as president in 2007 and is also a member of the Punjab Bar Council. Three candidates — Ijaz Ahmed Wahla, Azhar Hanif and Pervez Iqbal — are in the run for the secretary slot.

Syed Zainul Abideen, Mohammad Imran and Karasan Khan are vying for the joint secretary seat.

Shumaila Umbreen Khattak is contesting against Afzal Zia for the finance secretary slot.

Sakina Chaudhry, who has been deputy mayor of the Faisalabad Municipal Corporation, says 325 women are members of the bar. She said women lawyers had been the members of the executive committee and now a woman was trying her luck for the finance secretary slot.

Bar members say the new cabinet will struggle for the LHC bench for the city. They have been struggling for the LHC bench for years and recently they observed a three-day strike for the acceptance of their demand.

On Feb 20, they turned violent and ransacked the district courts and the DCO office. Lawyers are ready to keep up their struggle unless the bench is set up in Faisalabad.

Lawyer Malik Tayyab told Dawn they had tolerated brutal police torture outside the Supreme Court while raising voice for the bench.

“We want such a cabinet that carry forward the cause,” he said.

He said the other pressing issues included a housing colony and chambers for the lawyers and both candidates had promised to work on these issues. Another lawyer, Asim Sheikh, though favours the bench but not at the cost of boycotting courts.

“Frequent strikes create backlog of cases,” he said.

No candidate is banking on any political party though Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, former federal minister Rana Farooq Saeed, former MNAs Ijaz Virk and Saeed Iqbal are also bar members.