LAHORE: Barrister Abid Shahid Zuberi of the Hamid Khan-led Professional group was elected on Friday president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) for the year 2022-23.

Zuberi defeated Khalid Javed of the Independent group, known as Asma Jahangir group.

Both candidates for the presidential slot were from Karachi since the top slot this year was reserved for Sindh province as per a rotation policy.

Political pundits claim that the position of Asma group was strong before its leader Azam Nazir Tarar, former federal law minister, betrayed the bar’s principled stand on the elevation of the high court judges to the Supreme Court by voting in favour of junior judges during the last meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP).

The names of the same junior judges had previously been disapproved by the government’s representatives –the law minister and the attorney general of Pakistan -- in the last meeting of the JCP held on July 28.

‘Betrayal’ by Azam Nazir led to Asma group defeat

Although, Mr Tarar resigned from the office of the law minister but after the meeting of the JCP wherein he voted in favour of the two junior judges, one each from the high court of Lahore and Sindh, nominated by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial for their elevation to the apex court.

Tarar is also a member of Pakistan Bar Council, the top regulatory body of the lawyers in the country.

Many senior bar members said there had been a resentment among the legal fraternity against the Asma group since the former law minister voted in favour of the junior judges deviating from the bar stance.

The Asma group has been ruling the SCBA for the last three years.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was the main ally of the Asma group from among the political parties while a majority of the leadership of the professional group including Hamid Khan belong to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and its lawyers’ wing.

As per unofficial results, Zuberi bagged 1347 votes against 1148 obtained by Javed.

Muqtadir Akhtar Shabbir notched the slot of secretary with 1222 votes against Syed Ali Imran who secured 1105 votes.

Counting of votes on the other slots including once each vice president from all the provinces was in progress till the filing of this report.

In his victory speech, Zuberi vowed to implement the manifesto of his group which includes welfare of the lawyers and issues relating to delay in disposal of the cases by the courts.

He said the bar would work to maintain cordial relations with the judiciary and resolve the disputes over the elevation of judges with dialogue.

The official result of the election would be announced on Nov 3 in Islamabad.

Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and former federal minister Moonis Elahi telephoned Zuberi and felicitated him on being elected as the president of the SCBA.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2022