ISLAMABAD: The lawyers of the federal capital are going to elect the office bearers of Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) next week as the term of the incumbents will expire on Feb 24.

Since Feb 24 is weekly holiday for being Sunday, therefore, the IHCBA elections committee has decided to conduct elections on Feb 23 instead.

Senior lawyer Raja Inam Ameen Minhas and Barrister Shoaib Razzaq are vying for the post of President IHCBA. Both are the professional lawyers and have been practicing in Islamabad for decades.

Minhas has already served IHCBA as its first general secretary as he was elected in Feb 2009.

However, the then Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, after his reinstatement in March 2009, abolished the Islamabad High Court (IHC) as it was established soon after the proclamation of emergency by the then president Gen Pervez Musharraf on Nov 3, 2007.

However, Minhas along with the then President IHCBA Sajjad Afzal Cheema successfully lobbied for the IHC and held several meetings with the then prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani, the opposition leader Ch Nisar Ali Khan, chairman constitutional reforms committee Mian Raza Rabbani and other law makers.

Subsequently, the constitutional reforms committee, which has already planned for a high court in Islamabad, agreed to amend the constitution for re-establishment of the IHC.

Barrister Razzaq is also senior member of the IHCBA. He is a qualified Barrister from the Society of Lincoln’s Inn and has a law degree from a leading university in the United Kingdom.

Mr Razzaq has a vast experience in the legal profession for more than ten years and has appeared in various high profile cases.

For the position of general secretary advocate Umair Baloch and Imran Kayani are contesting while Imtiaz Cheema and Imran Shaukat Rao are contestants for the position of vice president.

Around 2400 members of the IHCBA would cast their vote to elect the new office bearers.

The polling will start at 8:30am on Feb 23 and end by 4:30pm.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2019