LAHORE: As the annual election of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) is around the corner, two main rival candidates for the president’s slot – Sardar Latif Khan Khosa and Ahsan Bhoon – have intensified their campaign to notch the office for the year 2021-22.

Interestingly, both candidates enjoy a relationship of mentor and mentee as Bhoon started his career in the legal profession at the chamber of Khosa.

As per the rotation policy among the provinces for the top office of the SCBA, this time candidates have been fielded from Punjab. Outgoing president Latif Afridi of the Independent group is from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Khosa, also a senior leader of PPP, has been fielded by the Hamid Khan-led Professional group while Bhoon is a candidate of the Independent group, famously known as late Asma Jahangir’s group. Bhoon, who is also politically affiliated to the PPP, is one of the senior leaders of his group.

Some see the contest between the two against decency, however, leaders of the Independent group say the election of Bhoon, a sitting member of the Pakistan Bar Council, was already announced three years ago.

They claim Khosa parted his ways after his son Khurram Latif Khosa was not owned by the Independent group for his election for the Lahore High Court Bar Association president a few years back.

Although Khosa has not formally joined the Professional group, he has been supporting the candidates of Hamid Khan for the last few years.

Professional group’s senior member Chaudhry Ishtiaq A Khan claimed that Khosa brought his personal vote bank of at least 250 members of the SCBA from across the country when Hamid Khan announced his candidature.

The top leadership of the PPP has announced its support for Khosa, however, Bhoon also claims to have the backing of lawyers affiliated to the party even from Sindh.

PPP-Punjab President Raja Pervez Ashraf and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have hosted feasts in honour of Khosa.

PML-N Lawyers’ Forum, headed by Naseer Ahmad Bhutta, and a faction of the Insaf Lawyers’ Forum, led by Senator Syed Ali Zafar, PML-Q lawyers wing and a faction of Peoples Lawyers Forum (PLF), led by Abid Saqi, is with Bhoon. PML-N’s senator Azam Nazir Tarar and JUI-F’s senator Kamran Murtaza are also leaders of the Independent group.

Majority of the Jatt clan is supporting Bhoon while Arains are divided on vote for the top slot.

On the other hand, Khosa enjoys support from the lawyers’ wings of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Awami National Party (ANP). However, ANP’s Ahsan Wyne announced support for the Independent group.

Being a part of the Professional group, a faction of PML-N lawyers headed by Rana Asadullah Khan, younger brother of the party’s MPA Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, is with Khosa. Federal Law Minister Dr Farogh Nasim is also a part of the Professional group.

Political pundits in the bar foresee a close fight on the president’s slot in one-on-one contest as third candidate Hafiz Abdul Rehman Ansari on Monday announced his withdrawal in favour of Khosa. Ansari, a former president of the Lahore High Court bar Association, is a senior member of the Professional group.

Around 3,000 eligible voters across the country will exercise their right to vote in the polling to be held on Oct 28. Lahore has majority of the votes with 1,200 members.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2021