KARACHI, Nov 17: The Sindh High Court indefinitely adjourned on Friday the hearing of a petition challenging the results of the Supreme Court Bar Association election after observing that an identical case was pending before the Supreme Court.

The petitioners’ counsel, Abdul Hafeez Lakho, earlier produced the paper book of the petition moved by Muneer A. Malik in the Supreme Court assailing an interim order passed by a single judge of the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench.

The order suspended the Pakistan Bar Council’s decision against Raja Haq Nawaz Khan’s election as the association’s president announced by outgoing SCBA chief Malik Mohammad Qayyum.

The petitioners, Abdul Haleem Pirzada, Khawaja Mansoor and Pir Hussain Shah Rashdi, said that Mr Qayyum had no authority to hold fresh counting and invalidate ballots cast at the Karachi polling station on Oct 31. Mr Qayyum had assumed the office of returning officer in violation of the rules, they alleged. The results announced by the Supreme Court Bar Association executive committee on Nov 2 were final, which had declared Muneer A. Malik as elected president of the association.

The petitioners sought a writ of quo warranto against Raja Haq Nawaz and Nawab Saeedullah Khan, who were declared elected as president and vice-president (from Punjab) respectively, on Nov 4.

In the alternative, they requested the court to direct the Pakistan Bar Council to hold new elections.

After going through the paper book produced by the petitioners’ counsel, the bench comprising Justices Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Ali Sain Dino Metlo said that the matters agitated were subjudice in the Supreme Court. Advocate Lakho requested that the petition be adjourned sine die and the bench ordered accordingly.