Election day: 66th KBA elections: Legal eagles at city courts go to poll today

Posts of president and general-secretary are also up for grabs.

KARACHI: Legions of lawyers are all set to descend at the city courts to take part in the Karachi Bar Association’s (KBA) 66th annual elections, which are scheduled to take place today.

The city’s legal fraternity will vote in a 17-member body, comprising six office-bearers and 11 managing committee members, for 2013. District and sessions judge, south, Ahmed Saba, has volunteered to act as the chief election commissioner, and he will be joined by 17 additional district and sessions judges as presiding officers. Another 20 senior civil and family judges of east, west, central and south districts will act as assistant presiding officers, and 23 judicial magistrates will be on duty as polling officers.

Around 20 polling booths have been set up in court premises, which are scheduled to remain open from 9am to 5pm.

The total number of lawyers at City Courts is around 12,000. However, the number of registered voters is around 6,000, which means that about one in two lawyers will be able to cast their vote today. Strict security measures have been taken and additional police and Rangers will be deployed to avoid any untoward situation.

The candidates

Four candidates, Noor Naz Agha, Naeemuddin Qureshi, Muhammad Idrees Rao, and Muhammad Imran, are vying for the KBA president’s slot.



Competition for the vice-president’s post is between Muhammad Saeeduzzaman and Tariq Arif Ali Shah. The contest for the general secretary’s position pits Kashif Hanif, Mohammad Javed Memon, Muhammad Azam Khan and Muhammad Munsif Jan against each other.



Five candidates, Abdus Samad Khattak, Aftab Ahmed Channa, Muhammad Amer, Muhammad Nizar and Muhammad Sahib, are contesting elections for the joint secretary’s position. Three candidates are each vying for the posts of treasurer and librarian. As many as 39 members have filed nomination papers for 11 positions on KBA’s managing committee.

KBA alumni

Many renowned legal minds of the country had been affiliated with the KBA at one point or another in their careers. The history of the electoral process at KBA dates back to 1948, when Hassan Allay A. Rehman was elected as the first president of the association. Some of KBA’s more renowned former office bearers include luminaries, such as Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed, Farooq H Naik, current federal law minister, and Munir A Malik, a key part of the lawyers’ movement of 2007 and former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association. Amin Lakhani, Yaseen Azad, Saathi M Ishaque, and Rasheed A Rizvi have also been a part of KBA.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2012.