LAHORE, Nov 7: The Pakistan Bar Council on Tuesday upheld the election of Munir A. Malik as president of the Supreme Court Bar Association and of other office-bearers and nullified a notification issued by former SCBA president Malik Mohammad Qayyum.

The executive committee of the PBC, which met in the Supreme Court Building in Islamabad under the chairmanship of Syed Kalb-i-Hasan, held that the notification issued on Nov 2 by the former secretary SCBA Ali Akbar Qureshi was valid and in accordance with the by-laws.

According to a PBC member who attended the meeting, the committee also issued notices to Malik Qayyum, Raja Haq Nawaz and others who were notified elected by the former SCBA president. They were asked to appear before the committee in Islamabad on Nov 11 to explain their point of view before a final decision.

PBC’s vice-chairperson Ali Ahmad Kurd (Balochistan) and members Rasheed A Razvi (Sindh), Qazi Mohammad Anwar (NWFP) and Kazim Khan (Punjab) also attended the meeting. Another member, Hamid Khan, abstained saying he had been actively involved in the election campaign of Munir A Malik and propriety demanded that he should not participate in the meeting.

Meanwhile, former SCBA president Maik Mohammad Qayyum has rejected the PBC decision saying it had no role in the SCBA elections. He said if the PBC committee sent him a notice, he would not appear before it.

He said the decision of the PBC committee was malafide and heavily tilted in favour of one party.

He said he was otherwise out of the picture because he had completed his job after recount of the vote and issuance of a notification.

He said Raja Haq Nawaz was the association’s president and his notification held valid ground. He said he was also busy in the election campaign of his son Mohammad Ahmad Qayyum who was contesting for the post of secretary Lahore High Court Bar Association.