KARACHI: The Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) on Friday demanded immediate removal of the administrative committee, presently running the affairs of the Karachi Bar Association (KBA), and appointment of a judicial election commissioner or polls to be held through biometric system.

A day after the long-overdue annual election of the KBA was cancelled yet again over allegations of rigging, the SHCBA held a special general body meeting and passed a resolution on the subject matter.

It said: “The SHCBA strongly condemns the pre-planned and organised rigging in the annual election of KBA, which was headed by Sindh Bar Council.”

The resolution demanded immediate removal of present administrative committee of the KBA and restoration of the previous elected committee, excluding those who are contending the election in question, till the new body was elected.

Demands removal of current body running KBA affairs

It also called for registration of FIRs against all persons involved in corruption and rigging, including members of election commission, returning officers and presiding officers.

The SHCBA further stated that appointment of a new election commissioner and announcement of fresh date of the KBA election be made within 15 days.

It said that vice chairman of the SBC, contesting aspirants and leadership of the SHCBA should meet the chief justice of the Sindh High Court on May 11 for provision of judicial election commissioner otherwise elections must be held through biometric system.

The SHCBA also demanded a judicial inquiry through a severing judge of the SHC into alleged rigging and related illegalities.

It further called to retrieve CCTV footage of offices of the SBC, advocate general of Sindh and prosecutor general of Sindh from May 3 to May 7.

Meanwhile, Election Commissioner Abdul Sattar Luhrani in a communication to the chairman of the executive committee of the SBC said that the polling process had started peacefully for around two hours and thereafter complaints were received about rigging at one polling station in district West at the City Courts.

He contended that lawyers had harassed him, an additional commissioner and an assisting returning officer at the polling station in question instead of showing evidence of rigging and also started physical violence.

“It was observed in some other districts that the ballots of all assistant returning officers were by force taken by the same people who alleged rigging. It is interesting to note that the ballots shown to the undersigned marked differences from the original vote”, he alleged.

Mr Luhrani also asserted that apparently, these fake votes could not be cast in any case as no cross mark stamp was available on them while serial numbers were also not mentioned and demanded that such issues should also be investigated.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2026