LAHORE: Sardar Akbar Ali Dogar of the Independent Group (also known as late Asma Jahangir group) on Saturday was elected president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) for the 2022-23 term, winning the contest by a good margin.

In a one-on-one contest, Mr Dogar defeated his rival Rana Asadullah Khan of the Hamid Khan-led Professional Group by a margin of 2,605 votes. Mr Khan is a brother of PML-N MPA Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan.

Both the candidates had been previously elected secretary of the bar.

Mr Dogar bagged 6,581 votes, while Mr Khan secured 3,976 votes.

This was Dogar’s second attempt for the LHCBA top office. He had lost the previous election to Maqsood Buttar, the outgoing president.

Supreme Court Bar Association’s president Ahsan Bhoon, Pakistan Bar Council’s vice chairman Chaudhry Hafeezur Rehman, its members, including PML-N Senator Azam Nazir Tarar, Pir Masood Chishti and Abid Saqi were prominent supporters of Mr Dogar.

The PML-N lawyers’ forum largely supported Mr Dogar, while a faction of the forum backed Mr Khan.

A faction of Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF) headed by Ishtiaq A Khan, Peoples Lawyers Forum (PLF) headed by Sardar Latif Khosa and lawyers of the Jamaat-i-Islami supported Mr Khan.

On the other hand, an ILF group headed by PTI Senator Syed Ali Zafar, PML-Q Lawyers Wing and a faction of the PLF backed Mr Dogar.

The Independent Group also clinched the slot of vice president as its candidate Sohail Shafique Chaudhry secured 4,743 votes against his four rivals.

Rai Usman Ahmad, also a candidate of the Independent Group, was elected secretary with 4,455 votes against three rivals.

Rana Ali Akhtar Khan was elected finance secretary with 4,103 votes, defeating four rivals.

The polling was smoothly conducted under the supervision of chairman election committee Mian Irfan Akram.

As many as 10,630 members cast their votes out of a total of 23,560 eligible voters.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2022